Sacrifice
by Rebeckapaige
Summary: Jack loved the look of terror in Tooth's eyes, the horror in Sandy's, the anger in Bunny's and the sorrow in North's. Golden sand turned black under his touch and Pitch's dark aura was simply intoxicating. Jack recalled the moment where the arrow had pierced his back. The moment where an odd feeing of warmth consumed him as well as the evil it possessed.
1. Chapter 1

**Obviously, this is my first story. So I apologize if anything is confusing or... just poorly written in general. This is kind of an experiment for me. I have a general idea where this story is going, but be patient with me! I'm still trying to figure out ways of trying to get the story where I want it to go. Basically, I'm just winging it. Also, there is a possible Jack/Pitch ship in here (because they're my OTP and I will ship them to hell), but that's in later chapters. Maybe. I don't know yet. **

**(Small update: I fixed a lot of errors I found, and sentences that sounded down right awkward. Sorry for the crappy chapter. Here's, hopefully, a better written one.)**

**Enjoy!**

"Jack, hurry!" North yelled.

Jack called to the wind. He called for it to push him faster, to reach Sandy. He needed to reach Sandy. He had to. He summoned all his effort and strength into the wind. He flew like a bullet through the sky, no longer hearing the other Guardian's calls behind him. He had to get to Sandy.

Jack watched in horror has he spotted Pitch on his nightmare cloud, an arrow formed in his hands and Jack panicked. He's going to be too late. He won't be able to save Sandy.

Pitch raised his hands, arrow in place, and pulled the bow's string back. Jack screamed. A sudden burst of cold air pushed him faster. Then…

Darkness.

Everything seemed frozen in time. Jack couldn't move, he couldn't even utter a sound. He embraced the darkness for only a moment before pushing it away. Sandy's face appeared in Jack's mind, and he knew he had to crawl of the darkness to save him. With his determination, the darkness uncovered his vision, and to reveal Sandy's face. His expression was filled with terror. Jack was confused. Did he save Sandy? Where was Pitch?

Then Jack felt it. A pain, a small pinch was present on his back. Sandy reached for Jack's face. His eyes glittering with fear and…. sadness?

Noise returned to Jack's ears. Tooth's yelling, the reindeer coming closer, and Pitch's laugher. Jack let go of Sandy and slowly stood. He felt warmth covering his back, seeping into his skin and spreading into his body.

"Well, this has taken a perfect turn of events."

Jack turned his head towards Pitch, seeing the bow in his hands, empty of the arrow. Realization struck in.

"Jack! No!"

"Jack!"

The voices became muffled as they got closer. Jack stretched his hand behind his back, and felt an object. The object had an odd feeling to the touch. Jack gripped it, and pulled. The pain hadn't decreased, nor did the warmth that seemed to be completely covering his body.

He brought his hand with the object close to his heart, afraid of what he was going to see if he looked down. He moved his thumb across the object. The sandy feeling was very distinguished and had the same odd feeling that he felt in his skin.

Jack looked over Sandy again, seeing his eyes move over the object in his hand. Jack dared not to look at it, but he knew what it was. His hands tightened on the arrow and he shut his eyes closed.

The warmth was now completely covering his body. He felt it in every area. However, this time, it wasn't just the warmth. A sharp pain flooded his body, along with another sensation.

Fear.

The arrow dropped from Jack's hands and he collapsed on his knees. Voices screamed at him, but they weren't clear anymore. Jack felt like he was under water, drowning in it. Fear crept into his mind – he saw visions of horror and darkness.

He felt Sandy's hand on his face, but he did not open his eyes. The warmth was replaced with cold and the pain intensified.

Jack brought is hands to his face, trying to cover the pained expression he held. Sandy's hand pulled back when he did. Jack panted roughly, trying to contain the pain that had suddenly erupted. He fell to his back and writhed on the cloud, whimpering under his breath and tried to remain quiet. When majority of the pain had ceased, he released his head. He opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. It was beautiful, but dark. The moon shone on him, the light though, wasn't as bright.

A minor pain continued on and Jack's breath shuddered. Sandy's face covered Jack's view of the sky, and he felt familiar small hands throughout his body.

"Jack!" a muffled voice cried.

Tooth?

"Fight it, Jack! Fight it!"

"Don't fight the fear, Frost. Let it consume you."

Pitch. This was Pitch's fault. Jack wanted to jump up and freeze Pitch. He wanted to throw a snowball at him, anything. He couldn't move though. His fingers were tingling, along with his toes. The tingling sensation spread across his body, as did a cold feeling.

"Jack, look at me. You're going to be okay."

A blue blur joined the gold blur in his vision. Jack only wished to see the sky now. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't even acknowledge the small touches he was receiving from Tooth and Sandy. He didn't even feel alive anymore.

What seemed like an eternity lying there was only a measly minute. And just as sudden as the sensations had come, they were gone. No more pain, no more warmth. He only felt cold. He felt cold and dark.

Jack opened his eyes. When did he close them? Everything was clear, if not clearer. Tooth's eyes were the first things he saw. Her eyes were worried and filled with complete fear. Jack knew she feared his death, or any injury that was inflicted upon him. And Jack loved it. He loved looking into her eyes and seeing her fear. Dread soon joined fear when she continued to stare at Jack.

"Jack…" she breathed.

What?

He darted his eyes over to the Sandman. Sandy looked lost, and confused. Ah, and there was that delicious fear-

Delicious? No. Jack frowned. They shouldn't be afraid, they can't be. Jack wanted to reach up and hug both of them, whisper to them that everything was going to be alright.

Jack slowly sat up. Tooth and Sandy immediately backed away from his motion. Jack stared at his bare feet.

_What happened?_ He thought. He felt calm, and relaxed, like an arrow had never pierced his back. However, Jack felt weak. He adjusted his arms, and pushed himself off the ground. His legs shook underneath his weight and he had to steady himself before lifting his head. When he did, Pitch was directly in front of him.

Jack recalled slightly, his mind screaming danger. Pitch's eyes moved over Jack's face, taking in every detail. Slowly, Pitch raised his hand, and placed it on Jack's cheek. Jack shuddered at the touch, but couldn't find himself to pull away. Pitch's hand felt…welcoming. He loved the touch from the Nightmare King. He enjoyed the feeling of a touch of fear.

"What a beautiful turn of events," he murmured. "Look at your darkness, the fear you can inject."

Jack couldn't decide if he was confused, or flattered. Jack continued to melt at Pitch's touch, never wanting the warmth the hand brought to leave.

Pitch's eyes moved up behind him, and he grinned. "Oops," he cackled.

Jack gripped the hand on his face, and turned his head, making sure the hand won't leave. He first made eye contract with Tooth, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. Next, the Sandman, he was frozen in place. North and Bunny were in the distance. Bunny was raging, and North looked defeated. And Jack…enjoyed it - the look of defeat, rage, sadness, _fear. _

Yes. He loved it.

"Jack?" Tooth called.

Jack moved his eyes over to Tooth.

"What's up?" Jack replied. His voice was smooth, laced with an eerie touch of darkness. Jack was surprised, but also, even more confused. Why were they all looking at him like that? Why was Pitch still touching him? Jack dropped his hand, and Pitch's slowly slid off his face. Jack couldn't comprehend what was happening. He tried to match the pieces up, but nothing added.

Tooth couldn't seem to find his words. "Are…. How do you feel?"

Jack titled his head in confustion and scrunched his face. "I feel fine."

Tooth's mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

"Pitch!"

Jack's eyes moved back the sleigh, where Bunny was standing on the front reindeer, his boomerang in hand. What was he doing? The sleigh came closer.

"You're going to pay for this!" Bunny roared.

He jumped off the reindeer, and hurled right towards Jack and Pitch. Jack was too shocked to move. Couldn't Bunny see Jack was in front of Pitch? Bunny was going to hit Jack, yet Jack couldn't find his feet to move.

Jack felt Pitch's arms wrap around him, and Jack immediately leaned into the touch, bracing for impact, but it never came.

Jack felt like he was flying. There was a breeze surrounding him, along with a cloud of black.

"Jack! Come back!" North wailed.

Jack's eyes wondered through the darkness until they found a shed of light below him. Pitch's hands gripped tighter onto Jack's shoulders as Jack peered around the black, sand cloud below him. All Guardians were looking up at him, screaming, crying and –

Oh. They're afraid.

"Can you sense it, Jack?" Pitch whispered in his ear. "Their fear?"

Jack could only stare down at the four, letting Pitch whisper his words. His hands moved down to his forearms.

"I have such great plans for us, even though this was…. unexpected."

Jack wasn't sure what he mean but – wait, plans? Pitch must have felt Jack's confusion.

"You're now one of us."

…. What? Jack spread out his fingers in front of him, observing every knuckle and every nail. Everything seemed normal. Although, Jack seemed to appear more pale than usual - almost a deathly ill color.

Jack then, began to panic. _You are now one of us. _No. No, no, no, no! Jack clutched his hands into his hair, feeling around. He noticed a single black strand in the corner of his eye. No! This can't be happening!

"Yes," Pitch hissed, dragging on the word. "Embrace your darkness."

A sudden golden whip slashed the air next to Jack and Pitch. Jack looked down at the Guardians again, moving away from Pitch. Pitch let him go. Sandy stood by them, his golden, sand whips ready at hands, his expression pained.

"Don't worry, Jack!" North yelled. "We will save you!"

A laugh sputtered from Jack's lips. Sandy cracked his whip again, directly towards a smirking Pitch. Jack's hand struck out, and caught the whip. Under his touch, the golden sand slowly darkened, turning black. Jack stared in wonder at it, but also in horror. He… he saved Pitch? He protected him? It was just a reaction, an instinct calling from his mind. And the sand, it was black now, only because _he touched it. _

The whip was jerked from his hand. Jack's eyes followed the whip. North realized the situation, and pulled out his double swords. Bunny, doing the same with his boomerangs. Tooth hovered near them, her hands shaking, clearly unsure what to do.

They were going to attack, Jack assumed. He then realized his staff was missing. His hands felt empty and he suddenly felt useless and vulnerable. Pitch guided Jack's head with his hands so Jack was looking behind the Guardians. His staff was lying on the golden sand cloud.

Pitch chuckled softly. "What are you waiting for?"

The voice returned into his head, clouding his better judgment. Jack walked to the edge of Pitch's cloud, and jumped.

The Guardians were shocked, still ready for attack, but they hesitated. They could only watch as Jack gracefully landed behind them, the golden sand beneath his feet turning black, but returning gold as his foot was lifted.

Jack walked slowly over to his staff, wobbling on his legs. When hr reached it, he squatted down, and grasped the staff firmly in his hand.

Ice laced at his hand, and staff came alive underneath his touch. Jack stood with his staff, observing the newly dark carvings that appeared on the wood.

"Jack," a quiet voice said behind him.

Jack turned to face Tooth. "Have something to say this time?" he answered bitterly.

Tooth was taken back. "You need to come with us, Jack."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

She hesitated. "You're not yourself."

"On the contrary," Pitch exclaimed from above. "He looks absolutely perfect."

"That's it!" Bunny swung his arm forward, the boomerang released him his hand. Jack was stunned at Bunny's attack. He brought his staff up and the boomerang recalled from the hit. At this distraction, Bunny charged towards Jack. Still uncoordinated, Jack went to dodge the charge, but instead tripped over his own feet, and fell to the ground.

Before Bunny could reach him, with the obvious impression that he was going to physically attack Jack, a wall of black sand materialized in front of him. Jack heard a low curse from Bunny from the sudden obstacle.

"Now let's not hurt my new little prince, shall we?"

Jack's had enough with this internal battle within him. He's tired of the confusion and his sudden appreciation and creation of darkness. Jack growled in frustration. He jumped up with renewed energy, and launched himself off the cloud.

"Now look what you did."

Pitch's words was the last thing Jack heard before he called the wind and soared at lightning speed away from the Guardians and the Nightmare King. Jack was lost. He was confused. What had he become?

He loved the look of terror in Tooth's eyes, the horror in Sandy's, the anger in Bunny's and the sorrow in North's. Golden sand turned black under his touch and Pitch's dark aura was simply intoxicating. Jack recalled the moment where the arrow had pierced his back. The moment where an odd feeing of warmth consumed him as well as the evil it possessed.

Jack flew through the sky, clutching his tainted staff. He soon spotted the lake, his home. Jack roughly landed into the snow. He tumbled through the bushes until finding his feet and clumsily walked over to the edge of the ice then collapsed.

Jack panted above the frozen lake. He felt weak and powerless. The quick flight had taken the majority of the energy he had left from Pitch's attack. His icy breath mixed with the cold air, and Jack welcomed the gusts of freezing air he breathed in.

Once Jack had caught his breath, he relaxed onto his heels, dropping his staff next to him. He peered down at the frozen lake, covered in snow. Jack reached his hand out and began brushing the snow off, letting the clear ice become a mirror.

Jack hesitated before looking down at his reflection. He feared the worse, but knew the outcome. He took a deep breath. _I can do this. _Jack braced his hands below him, and leaned over the opening.

It took all of Jack's strength to not cry out. It also took all his strength to not laugh in victory.

Jack's once snowy, white hair was now completely black. There was no hint that it once possessed its white. And his eyes. Jack wanted to gauge his eyes out. One looked like the moon – silver and golden, filled with life, but also full of darkness. The other was like the ocean. The color was the definition of blue - Jack's normal blue eye color.

Jack couldn't understand. He couldn't comprehend. He bowed onto the ice, clawing at his darkened hair and eyes. He snarled and grinded his teeth. How could he have let this happen?! He's just like Pitch now. _Evil. _Jack didn't want to be evil. He didn't want to be feared. He wanted to spread joy, to bring happiness. He just wanted to have fun and to be believed in.

Now he can't.

Unless. Jack seized his snarling, but still kept a tight hold on his hair. There are others way of bringing fun. Darker ways. A smile broke out on Jack's face.

No!

Yes!

Jack banged his head against the ice and collapsed on his bottom. He didn't know what he wanted, or what he was. Was Jack a fearling now? Or is he still…

_What was I before? Jack Frost? Just another spirit that brings winter? _

Jack curled his knees to his chest. _I wasn't anyone. _No one appreciated Jack, or even acknowledged him. The Guardians only took notice simply because the Moon told them so. They would have never thought to seek the help of Jack Frost.

Jack growled. He doesn't mean anything to them. He didn't want to be a Guardian. He just wanted his memories, then he was going to vanish and continue being who he was: the invisible boy.

"Jack."

Jack sat up, turning his head quickly. Pitch stood at the edge of the forest, his hands neatly folded behind his back. Jack could only stare.

"How did it feel, Jack," he began. "To be ignored for 300 years? You were invisible, never noticed."

Jack opened his mouth, but couldn't find his words. He turned his head back towards the lake and rested his chin on his knee in defeat.

"But look at you know," Pitch chuckled. "A beautiful creation. A perfect – "

"Fearling?" Jack interrupted. Just as he thought. Even in his new state, he was still only a puppet.

"Prince," Pitch finished, almost hesitantly. "You aren't anything close to a fearling. You're now the Prince of Nightmares, and I am the King. We are equal now, Jack. You don't have to alone anymore."

Pitch's footsteps were silent, but Jack knew he was walking closer.

"You are a nightmare come true." Jack frowned. Pitch was sweet talking him. "Imagine what we could do together. The world we could create. The nightmares that will be born! Cold and dark, Jack." Pitch leaned into Jack's ear. "Just you and I in our new world."

Jack turned his head away.

"Imagine a world where there is nothing but ice and darkness. Can you see that, Jack?" Jack stared at the frozen lake ahead of him, picturing the ocean, just as frozen. "We will rule this world, and no one can stop us. Not even the Guardians." Jack huffed at the mention of the Guardians, his puppet masters. Pitch grinned at Jack's reaction.

"Come with me, Jack. Join me and we'll create a new world. Our world. Filled with nothing but cold and dark."

Jack slowly turned his head back to Pitch. Pitch leaned over him, looking down on him with smug smile. Jack darted his eyes back to the lake. A world with only cold and dark? Jack loved the cold. He loved making it snow, he loved making it freeze, and he loved causing trouble with his frost. Now he can do it everyday, with no one to tell him, 'no, that's wrong'.

But the darkness part. Jack loved the light. He loved how it glistened off his snow, even though the sun does melt is eventually. Then hit Jack. With no sun, nothing can melt his frozen creations. There will always be snow. The lakes, rivers and oceans will always be frozen. It'll be Jack's world. And Pitch's.

Jack moved his eyes back to Pitch. Pitch must have seen Jack's new found determination, because Pitch began to grin.

"I'm in," Jack declared. Pitch's grin widened. "On one condition."

"Oh?" Pitch's grin never faltered.

"I don't want to hurt the kids," Jack said.

Pitch's grin turned into a smile. "But of course. You'll never have to lay a figure on the precious children."

Jack nodded, satisfied with Pitch's answer. "Alright then."

"Now." Pitch stood, his back straight and head high. "Are you ready to see your new home?"

**Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Phew! Two in one day! (I really have nothing else to do.) Thanks to those have reviewed and followed and favorite, etc. It means a lot! :) Due to me making this account today, I have to wait 24 hours before replying to reviews. So don't you worry, little muffin cakes. I got you covered. **

**If you see any spelling errors, let me know. I will be quick to fix them. **

**Enjoy! **

Pitch's lair was predictably dark and eerie. Every sound echoed throughout the hallways and everything had a shadow that seemed to move if stared at too long. Mysterious cages hung from the ceiling and were swaying regularly. Jack heard a loud clattering and buzzing sound from them. He immediately knew that's where the Tooth Fairies were held. Jack ignored the desperate calls from above, trying not to think about the victory the Guardians would have if Jack simply released them at this very moment.

The bridges were tilted, but stable. Even though the lair itself was underground in what appeared to be a huge cave, towers of black material decorated the inside. The towers were high and pointed. The structure reminded Jack of the Tooth Palace, but more…. dark, of course.

Pitch calmly followed Jack around as he explored. Jack continued his hold on his staff, but used his other hand to run it across walls. Frost appeared on the dark walls at his touch. Jack would occasionally watch the frost spread against the black, admiring it. It reminded him of the new world Pitch promised.

Jack sighed. He started feeling doubt. He would keep his one condition strong though. It had to be kept. Jack glanced over his shoulder at Pitch. Pitch only stared at him. _Yeah, he better keep it. _

Jack let go of the wall and jumped onto the ledge of the bridge, balancing on the narrow railing.

"So," Jack dragged out. "Now what?"

Jack twirled his staff in his hand before tapping the railing – frost immediately began to spread.

"You need to train," Pitch explained.

"Train?" Jack huffed. _Because 300 years of training" wasn't enough. _

"Your new skills, Jack. We need to see what you're capable of doing," Pitch paused. "And creating."

"So when do we start?" Jack asked, eager to learn of his new capabilities, but also dreaded the evil he possibly possessed.

"Tomorrow."

"What? Tomorrow?" Jack asked, surprised. "Why not now?"

Pitch chuckled. "Eager, are we?"

Jack rolled his eyes and continued to walk on the railing, carefully balancing himself. The railing came to an end, and Jack jumped off, entering a new hallway.

"You've been through a lot today, Jack," Pitch explained. "You need your rest."

"The sooner the better – "

"Good things," Pitch snapped. "Come to those who wait."

Jack groaned quietly, dragging his staff behind him on the floor.

"Speaking of waiting…" Jack began.

Pitch sighed.

"Mind if I snoop around?"

"You are 'snooping' now, are you not?" Pitch asked impatiently.

"Well, the thing is," Jack started. "I was only helping the Guardians so I can get my teeth back."

"Ahh, that's right."

Jack was silent for a bit before speaking. "Can I have them?"

"I'm afraid not."

"What?!" Jack screeched. He froze on the spot and watched as Pitch continued on walking.

"This is _my_ condition, Jack," Pitch sighed, stopping to turn to look at Jack.

"You didn't say before – "

"Once our world is created and the Guardians are defeated," Pitch interrupted. "I will then give you your teeth."

"You're just afraid, aren't you?" Jack was furious. He was so close to his teeth, yet he would never get them until the end.

"Afraid?" Pitch laughed. "I'm not afraid of anything, Frost."

"Everyone is afraid of something!" Jack yelled.

Pitch only laughed, before continuing to walk. Jack groaned in frustration. He ran to catch up with Pitch.

"I will show you to your room," he said. "Then you will rest until I see fit for you to began your training."

Jack's response was silence. Pitch knew Jack was angered at his rejection to obtain his teeth. Pitch was worried though. He wondered what Jack would do if he had his memories returned to him. Would he continue to be consumed by darkness, or would his memories have him return to the Guardian he once was?

"Hey, Pitch," Jack called, falling behind as Pitch quickly walked to Jack's room. He needed to be alone to think.

"Yes?" Pitch didn't slow down for Jack to catch up. Jack had to quicken his pace to be directly behind him.

"Why is that only one of my eyes changed?" Jack asked.

Pitch sighed. "Most likely because you still have purity in you."

Pitch took Jack's silence as confusion.

"Even though the fear had spread through you, Jack, it didn't completely possess you," Pitch explained. "You have a glimmer of your old self in your new form. The reason why you still worry for the children."

Jack silently listened. Explains the internal battle he keeps having within himself. The good in him was still there; it was fighting a losing battle with the evil.

"I'm sure over time it will fade."

Jack's steps slowed again. His mind went haywire. Different emotions and reactions happened and Jack couldn't keep up. He felt a sense of joy that the "good" will finally vanish and he can be the Jack Frost Pitch wanted. However, he also felt fear and dread, but hope. The good side of him was afraid it will never exist again, that it will be completely consumed by the evil. Yet, it held hope. Hope that it will outweigh the bad, and Jack can be Guardian the Moon wanted.

Jack wanted nothing more but to bang his head against a wall. A raging ache began to form in his head as he tried to organize his thoughts.

"Here is where you will be staying." Pitch stopped by a door and opened it.

Jack snapped out of his thoughts and stepped towards the door. He peered into the dark room that held all basic furniture. There were no lights however, but Jack felt strangely comfortable in the dark room.

The darkness was such a huge difference from the light the Guardian's had. North's workshop was so bright, it had not a single shadow. Tooth's palace, the same. Jack's thoughts wandered back to the Guardian's.

"Will they look for me?" he asked suddenly.

Pitch knew he was speaking of the Guardians. "Most likely."

Jack felt a flicker of hope within him. It quickly disappeared by irritation. He wished they wouldn't. They shouldn't. They never cared, so why should they now?

"Which is why you need your rest, so we will be ready."

"Right," Jack sighed. He stepped into the room and starting peeking into empty drawers.

Pitch stood awkwardly at the door, unsure whether Jack will escape or not if left alone. Pitch knew of Jack's doubt. He felt Jack's fear of making the wrong decision.

"Jack," Pitch said.

"What?" Jack answered, flipping through a book from the bookshelf.

Pitch was silent. Jack looked up from the book. "What?" he repeated.

Pitch played with his fingers for a moment before saying: "If you need anything, please call."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Jack mumbled, returning to the book.

"And please try not to wander too much," Pitch added. "My nightmares tend to be…wild."

With that, the door was closed. Jack paused, waiting for the click of the lock. It never came. A small smile appeared on Jack's face, he was happy that Pitch could trust him.

He shut the book and placed it back on the shelf. He wasn't really reading it anyways. He flung himself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. As much as Jack loved the darkness of the room, he thought it was too boring. Jack sat up on the bed and stared at his staff, smirking. A mischievous idea had come to him.

xxxxx

Against Pitch's recommendation, Jack wandered around the halls anyways. He avoided the main room though. He didn't want to hear the desperate and sad callings from the captured Tooth Fairies.

Jack had no clue where he was going, or even where he came from. He was lost. Extremely lost. Still, Jack pressed on, but as he continued to wander, he grew bored once again. He didn't feel caged in Pitch's liar or restricted, Jack just couldn't find anything that entertained him.

Jack tapped his staff against the low ceiling of the hallway, creating a pattern of frost. Jack dragged his staff above him, letting the whole ceiling be covered by his frost. He smiled. If he was going to live here, the least he could do was add a personal touch.

Jack saw a door up ahead. The first door he's seen since leaving his…. newly decorated room. Jack laughed under his breath at the disaster he made of his room. He reached for the handle, only hesitating slightly before cracking the door open.

He peeked his head from the door, surprised to see several candles lit around the room. The room should be described as more like a library. Books covered every wall and not a single wall space was shown. Books were even piled on the floor, clearly never having a home on the crowded bookshelves.

Jack slowly stepped into the room, spotting a single chair in the center near a table with a candle lighting up the area. And in that single chair, sat Pitch.

Jack was about to bolt from the room, he was afraid he was going to get from wandering the halls, when Pitch called out to him.

"Snooping again, are we?"

Jack laughed nervously. "I was uhh, bored."

Pitch looked up from his book he was reading. "I'm overly shocked."

Jack laughed at his sarcasm. Taking Pitch's greeting as a welcome, Jack fully stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Someone likes reading," Jack observed. He picked up a book from one of the numerous piles on the floor. He curiously flipped to the cover, but was unable to read the strange language that was presented. He dropped the book back on the floor.

Pitch frowned at Jack's treatment towards the book. "One could say."

"So, whatcha reading?" Jack strutted towards Pitch, looking up at the books near the ceiling. Seriously, does Pitch have every book that ever existed in here?

"Nothing that would interest you," Pitch mumbled, returning to his book.

"Humor me."

Pitch hid his irritation, only wanting to read. "Feast of Blood."

"Dark," Jack commented. "What's it about?"

"A vampire."

"Naturally." Jack waited for Pitch to continue, still staring at the numerous books. Nothing looked familiar.

Pitch sighed, closing his book. Clearly he won't be reading any time soon. "It's about a man who transforms into a vampire after murdering his son in a fit of rage."

"Harsh," Jack smiled.

Pitch continued. "His immortality was a curse though. He is forced to feed from the living for an eternity, even after failed attempts of suicide."

"Bummer," Jack mumbled.

Pitch set his book down on the small table beside the chair. Jack's attention was caught and he looked down at Pitch.

"Got anything in here that doesn't have blood or death in the title?" Jack joked.

Pitch wasn't as humored. "I'm sure I could find something."

Jack smiled. He jumped into the air and floated down on the top of Pitch's chair, balancing himself carefully. Pitch stared up at Jack, waiting for his next act.

Jack was more interested on the dark, crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling though. "Why don't you light that?"

Pitch followed Jack's gaze to the chandelier. "Obviously the title 'Nightmare Realm' means nothing?"

"Well, you already have a bunch of candles lit." Jack gestured to the candles hooked onto the shelves. He changed his position into sitting down, letting his legs dangle close to Pitch's shoulders.

Pitch eyed his legs cautiously, not used to someone being so willing close. "Even I enjoy a little reading light now and then."

Pitch stood from his chair. He was uncomfortable with the close proximity of Jack. Jack immediately flew down to the chair, crossing his legs on the cushion.

"Gonna read me a story?" he asked cheerfully.

Pitch glanced over at Jack, deciding to play his game of teasing. "Going to read me one?"

"I would, but I can't read gibberish. Or whatever language this is." Jack held up one of the books that was on the table to show.

Pitch resisted rolling his eyes. "So why have you wandered from your room, Jack? You are supposed to be resting."

"Yeah, well, I got bored." Jack toyed with the book in his hands.

"Bored does not mean you should walk into rooms uninvited," Pitch remarked.

"Where's the fun in that?" Jack set down the book and jumped from the chair.

"Where indeed?" Pitch asked quietly, watching Jack.

"What do you do for fun around here?" Jack went to tap Pitch's forehead with his staff, but Pitch's hand struck out, catching the staff. Jack seemed unfazed by the grab.

"Train."

"Well, I'm not allowed to train," Jack mocked. "Because I need rest."

Pitch smiled, letting go of Jack's staff before walking away.

"Hey!" Jack called after him. Pitch didn't stop from opening the door and leaving, he knew Jack was following. "Where are you going?"

"Return to your room, Jack. I have business to take care of." Pitch quickened his pace.

"Like what? Sending bad dreams to kids?" Jack easily kept pace.

"I have an army to build and Guardians to destroy. Please do not interrupt." Tired of Jack's games, Pitch disappeared into the shadows.

Jack called out to him, frustrated that Pitch had left him the dark hallway.

"So much for being a team!" Jack yelled.

"You shall wait your turn, Jack," Pitch's voice echoed in the hallways. Jack couldn't find where it was coming from. "Go to your room and rest. I will return shortly."

The hallway became silent.

"Man," Jack mumbled, kicking a loose rock on the ground.

Jack didn't necessarily want to return to his room, he already had his fun in there. Jack sighed dramatically and decided to venture into the main room with the Tooth Fairies.

His mission, however, seemed impossible. Jack was completely and utterly lost. He passed Pitch's library numerous times before deciding to leave marked spots with ice so he knew where he has been and where he hasn't.

The plan ended up failing, as Jack kept passing by the same markings over and over again. At least he didn't pass by the door anymore. Jack wasn't sure if that was progress or dread because now he was walking down an empty hallway with nothing.

Jacked groaned. He turned his head back behind him and glared at the ice marking. So much for the whole "resting" thing. It feels like Jack has been walking for hours. The least Pitch could have done was direct him back to his room. This place was huge.

A soft sound was heard. Jack turned his head back, looking for the source of the noise. It sounded as if something was rubbing against the wall. Jack remembered Pitch's warning of his nightmares roaming free in the liar. Jack held up his staff defensively. He knew not to be afraid of the nightmares and fearlings now, since he had, technically, become one to some extent. With Pitch's warning, Jack couldn't help but feel as though they don't welcome him yet into their home, and tend to show it.

Jack slowly walked backwards until his back hit the wall. He looked both ways down the hall. Time passed and the noise hadn't returned. Maybe Jack just imagined it. He relaxed against the wall, dropping his staff from its defensive position. Jack stared down the hallway, deciding on how to get to his room. _Maybe if I traced my steps back to the library... _

Undetected by Jack, a shadow began to form behind him. The shadow rode up against the wall, creeping closer towards Jack.

Jack decided to keep walking straight, as best as he can. He tapped the wall with his staff, marking the area. The shadow, curious of the new marking, slide lower down the wall, now directing its location to the ice.

Jack stepped away from the wall, taking a step to finish his mission of finding his room. Before he could, he heard that noise again. This time though, with…. sniffing?

Jack slowly turned back to the wall, noticing the shadow close to his marking. The shadow was shaped like a horse, and it was fairly close to the ice, its nose poking at it. Or sniffing it.

Jack couldn't find himself to lift his staff and shoot at it, so he watched instead. The shadow stopped poking at the ice, and Jack knew it was looking at him. The shadow emerged from the wall, forming a nightmare like the one Jack froze with his pursuit with Sandy.

The nightmare lowered its head, obviously bigger than the one's Jack saw. It eyed Jack carefully. Jack stood there, unsure how to approach the horse or how escape if it did end up attacking. Before he could make up his mind, his body took over and he slowly raised his hand.

The nightmare huffed and shook its head, appearing angry, but Jack kept going until his arm was fully stretched out, his palm open. What Jack was expecting, he wasn't sure.

The nightmare lowered its head further, its ears laid back. Jack titled his head curiously. The nightmare crept forward cautiously as if waiting for Jack to attack. Jack never did though, not even when its nose bumped against his hand.

Jack smiled, curling his fingers at the touch. The nightmare stepped closer, fully lettings Jack's hand grasp at its head. Jack laughed at the nightmares advance. The nightmare began to create a low noise, almost like a purr. Jack couldn't help laugh again. Pitch's nightmares were cuddly.

The horse neighed quietly and jumped forward, rubbing its body against Jack. Jack kept laughing and petting the nightmare.

"Aww, who's a good girl?" Jack asked, ruffling the horse's mane. The nightmare just nudged Jack's head with its own. "Yeah, you are," Jack hummed cheerfully.

As cute as the nightmare was being, Jack had bigger issues.

"Hey, little buddy," Jack called. "Mind escorting a guest to his room?"

The horse seized its rubbing and purring and stared at Jack. Jack felt like an idiot for asking. _I guess they only understand Pitch. _Jack wasn't even sure how Pitch communicated with these.

The horse huffed again, and turned away from Jack. Jack pouted. There goes his friend and only chance of finding his destination. Instead of creeping back into the shadows like what was predicted, the horse instead walked down the middle of the hallway.

Jack frowned. Should he follow? The horse turned its head and neighed. _Guess so. _Jack quickly skipped ahead, falling into step with the nightmare.

Soon enough, they both reached a door. Jack opened the door and looked inside to see his winter wonderland. Jack grinned.

"Hey, thanks!" He turned to thank the nightmare, but the horse was already gone. Jack's smile faded. He was hoping to play with the nightmare more.

Jack's shoulders sagged as he stepped into his room. He covered every inch of the room in ice, creating a creepy glow in the darkness. He jumped into his snow bed, dropping his staff next to him. The snow crunched underneath him and the bed creaked with his weight and the snow's.

Jack stared up at the ceiling, once again, bored.

**Boring ending. Sorry. **

**I tried forming a relationship between Jack and Pitch (not the romantic kind coughyetcough). ... I think it worked, I guess? Pitch is still... well, himself. And Jack's "fun times and snowballs". As you can see, Jack is still himself, even though darker and is the "PRINCE OF NIGHTMARES", and will forever be the trouble marker he is. **

**Feast of Blood is actually a book. I've never read it, but it looks pretty good. Minus the 600,000 + words part. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh, man. This chapter took forever. I apologize for the wait, but I had to re-write this thing at least four times before even being _close_ to satisfied. When I first wrote it, I had the "training scene", but then realized, Easter is tomorrow in the ROTG world. Ain't nobody got time for training (or whatever). I jumped straight into destroying Easter because that's always fun. So here's the rushed chapter 3 of the story I'm completely BSing because I have no clue what I'm doing. **

**Enjoy! :)**

Jack knew of Bunny's appending holiday. Easter was tomorrow, and he knew Pitch had something planned. What he had planned, Jack wasn't sure. He was sure though, that it will destroy Easter along the belief the children had.

However, something didn't quite settle right within Jack. He thought about the kids while Pitch was away. He thought back to the sleigh ride he had given Jamie, and how Jamie's smile meant everything to Jack in that moment, because in the bottom of his heart, he hoped that Jamie would believe in him. In the end, he never did.

The appearance Jack held now, he knew it wouldn't be just a simple belief the children will have in him; there will also be fear, if not only fear. Part of Jack is excited to be feared. He wants to bask in the nightmares of the children, to roll in the darkness and look into eyes full of nothing but fear and despair. The other part of him was screaming. Screaming at Jack to wake up, to go back to the Guardians. He couldn't ignore that voice, and he soon found himself staring at nothing but darkness, listening to that voice.

It never persuaded him though, it only brought guilt and doubt. And fear. Jack wanted nothing more but to have that voice _go away. _He was _tired _of listening to it. He was _done _feeling this _guilt. _No matter how much Jack screamed back, it stayed. If not, Jack's determination of getting rid of it was making it's flame bigger.

So Jack began ignoring it again. He focused on the way the darkness felt on his skin, the silence that made his ears ring. He stood in the middle of his mini-winter wonderland and pictured himself standing in a street. There was darkness and more importantly, there was ice _everywhere. _Icicles hung from every edge, the ground was completely covered in snow and the sky… The sky was dark, not even a cloud could have been seen. The only hint that there was a sky and not an emptiness of black space was the snow that fell from it.

Jack soon felt trapped in his room. He needed the open skies; he needed to feel the wind. Jack rushed over to the door, feeling lightheaded from the claustrophobic feeling that was arising in him. He ran down the hall, his staff swinging by his side and his breath started to become heavy.

It was a straight shot to the main part of Pitch's liar. Jack exploded from the archway from the hallway and gasped in the new air, even though it was just as heavy and musky like his room. He tried to control his breath, but it continued to come out in heavy gasps.

He wanted to be outside. He _needed_ to be outside.

He shot up towards the ceiling, looking for the opening. He ran his hands around the rock, desperately wanting to escape. He couldn't take the heat, the overbearing walls that were closing in on him.

When the opening couldn't be found, Jack yelled. He screamed. He hit the ceiling repeatedly. He clung onto the rocks, wanting _out. _

Jack's breath showed has he huffed it out. The room had gotten ridiculously cold during Jack's breakdown, and not a single spot on the ceiling wasn't covered in frost. A strong breeze had begun, continuing to chill the air and drop the temperature.

At the feeling of the breeze and the freezing temperature, Jack began to relax. The breeze whispered by him and he welcomed it. The feeling of it brushing over his skin, ruffling his hair – he embraced this feeling. He took a deep breath and released the wall, pushing himself away. He floated in the middle of the room, high towards the ceiling, with his arms limp at this side.

Jack suddenly felt alone. The breeze had shaken the cages, moved the dust around and created a whistling sound when passing through the hollow globe. Every sound echoed. The echoes went on, almost taunting Jack, reminding him that he was once again alone.

A single chirping brought Jack's attention back to the world. He turned towards the cages, seeing the little tooth fairies all watching him. Most of them had stopped flying. Jack assumed despite the Guardian's fruitless attempts of collecting the teeth, their efforts had died out, along the belief in the Tooth Fairy. Jack thoughts wandered back to what will become of Easter, what Pitch has planed.

A single tooth fairy, in the closet cage towards Jack, was hovering close to the edge, watching Jack very carefully. Jack frowned at the tooth fairy, and hovered over, the wind carrying him, riling up the cages even more. The cage swung in front of Jack as he had a stare off with the baby tooth.

"What could you possibly want?" Jack mumbled.

The tooth fairy quietly chirped, hovering in the same place. Jack narrowed his eyes at it.

"Jack."

Jack's eyes darted away from the little tooth fairy down by the globe. Pitch stood there, staring up at him curiously. Jack immediately flew down towards Pitch, landing directly in front of him. Jack couldn't help but grin up at the Nightmare King.

"What were you doing?" Pitch asked.

Jack didn't want to admit of his breakdown earlier. He saw it has a weakness and, well, as a "Prince of Nightmares", Jack didn't want to disappoint his king.

"Stretching," he said, still smiling.

Pitch sighed. "Of course."

Jack just continued to smile up at Pitch, and Pitch didn't seem too thrilled at this.

"Next time you 'stretch', please do refrain from making this place so cold," Pitch complained teasingly, as if talking to a child.

Jack chuckled. "Couldn't resist."

"Now, Jack. Do you know what tomorrow is?"

Jack immediately perked up. "Easter!"

"Yes," Pitch dragged out hesitantly, eyeing Jack. "Easter."

Jack realized that he appeared a little _too_ excited for Easter, and Pitch was taking this excitement the opposite way it should be.

"So," Jack began, trying to redeem himself. "What are we going to do about it?"

Pitch smiled sinisterly. "Demolish it, of course. "

"Care to elaborate a little more?" Jack rested his hands on top of his staff, leaning against it.

Pitch chuckled quietly. "The plan is simple, Jack, and your job is the most important."

Jack grinned at this, lifting up his head in excitement. _Don't do it. _"What do I do?" Pitch gestured at Jack's staff. Jack stared down at it, frowning in confusion. "Do you want me to…. freeze the eggs?"

Pitch grinned, an evil glint in his eyes. "Something like that."

Pitch's plan was indeed, simple. Maybe a little too simple, Jack had wondered. Pitch predicted all Guardians to be at Bunny's Warren, preparing for Easter, to resurrect the belief that the children had once had. Pitch had also predicted that if they didn't take care of Easter now, the Guardians will soon look for them. And, well, that wasn't part of the "plan".

Pitch was going to use himself as bait, Jack liked to refer to him as. He was going to distract the Guardians – let it be talking or fighting. Either way, Pitch had dismissed Jack's worrying over fighting four Guardians at once. Afterward, Jack felt ashamed for thinking such a thing.

While Pitch acted as "bait", Jack was going to destroy the eggs with the Nightmares. Jack had asked how to destroy them, and Pitch only said to get creative and simply have fun.

After entering the Warren, Jack and Pitch had arrived in time to see only two Guardians. Bunny was missing, which was expected.

"Bunnymund watches over the eggs has they surface. He makes sure they are hiding and protected until the children can begin their 'egg hunt'," Pitch had explained. Jack had also heard something about being "pathetic", but he was too distracted by watching the millions of eggs that were gathering towards the tunnels.

North and Sandy were the only one's present in the Warren, with Tooth mysteriously gone. Pitch had confirmed though, that she wasn't looking for his liar. Pitch had taken the time to set up Nightmares around his liars, guarding the entrance and also patrolling the nearby area.

"So you have a security system set up?" Jack laughed. "Do I need a password to enter?" Jack had learned the hard way of learning about alarm systems. He told Pitch he had once entered a house with one, and as soon as he entered, the thing had gone off. Jack was so startled, that he had accidentally frosted the whole kitchen. The police were so dumbfounded that Jack decided it was worth it the scare.

Pitch had purposely arrived with Jack at the moment where the eggs had already begun marching into the tunnels toward the surface. Pitch had made Jack wait beforehand. He wanted to arrive at a precise time so their "flawless plan" can be immediately placed into motion upon their entrance. Jack felt like he was going to die if he waited any longer. He counted at least a few hours of sitting around, waiting to put forth the plan.

Pitch had grown so tired of Jack's groaning and complaining of boredom, he had actually summoned a Nightmare to keep him entertained. A single Nightmare eventually turned to ten, as the other nine were attracted to the, Jack dares to think, playful noises the first Nightmare was making. But Pitch had become annoyed that Jack was playing with his Nightmares.

"They're meant for scaring, not playing," Pitch said.

"I think you're just jealous they don't want to play with you," Jack smirked.

Jack's entertain was gone soon after.

Here they stood now, looking down at North and Sandy as they scooped the area around the eggs, never noticing the two standing on the edge of the cliff.

Pitch decided then _(finally), _to start the distraction. The distraction began with a few Nightmares, appearing from the shadows near Sandy and North. Sandy and North immediately armed themselves, striking at the shadows. Pitch vanished into the shadows to join, whispering the words, "have fun" before disappearing completely.

Jack knew his cue, and it wasn't now. Sandy and North had spotted Pitch as Pitch begun his grand entrance. _What a drama queen. _He had almost forgotten his cue, watching closely as Pitch mocked the two Guardians, laughing at their pathetic attempts to protect the children and stop the fear.

Jack caught up though and swooped down. He had to stay hidden to best he could. Pitch wanted to extend his distraction as long as possible so Jack could destroy as many eggs as possible before their plan was called out.

Several Nightmares began to form around Jack as Jack landed by the eggs. The eggs had seized their marching at Jack's landing and began scurrying quickly to the tunnels.

Jack chuckled, and began crushing. He stomped, he froze, he swung, and the whole time, he laughed. He couldn't stop grinning or giggling. The thrill of playing this game was overwhelming, and Jack couldn't stop.

The game of tag became a game of hide and seek. Eggs hid behind rocks, under the grass, everywhere. Jack found them though – every single one. With the help of the Nightmares, Jack was finished within minutes, and North and Sandy never had the chance to see the chaos Jack had made.

A single Nightmare trotted over towards Jack. Jack cooed at it, rubbing the mane and loving the feeling of the velvety sand that slid through his fingers. The Nightmare enjoyed it even more, rubbing its head against Jack. Jack laughed, and obeyed to the demand and stroked its noise gently.

While Jack was distracted by the horse, a Guardian had appeared, soon followed by another. Jack watched the Tooth Fairy fly overhead, her eyes widening at the sight of the crushed eggs. Jack hid himself behind the horse, making sure Tooth's eyes won't spot him. Unfortunately, due to his hiding, he couldn't enjoy the look of shock in her eyes. _Next time. _

After Tooth's arrival, a noise from the tunnels caught his attention. Bunny had busted from the one of the several entrances, a wild look of desperation upon his face. Jack couldn't help but feel proud of himself. He made Bunny look this way. It was because of him Bunny had no more eggs. No more eggs meant no more Easter. No more Easter meant no more Easter Bunny.

A successful plan, if Jack said so himself.

Jack realized too late that he was in Bunny's clear of vision. Bunny gaped at Jack in disbelief. His eyes were wide, his ears quivering with fear. Ah, yes. Jack smelled in the fear, grinning from ear to ear.

Him and Bunny had a stare off. Bunny couldn't seem to find himself, so he stood motionless and speechless while Jack nonchalantly pet the Nightmare, his smile never falling.

"Jack."

Jack turned to his name, breaking eye contract with Bunny. Tooth was hovering behind him, her hands covering his moth.

"What have you done?" she cried.

It was then Jack's smile began to shrink. Pitch's distraction ended, leaving North and Sandy breathless from the quick fight he had provoked. North and Sandy finally got a chance to see the destruction Jack caused.

Jack no longer felt proud. He lost the happiness and the fun he had over destroying the eggs. He soaked in every detail, every crinkle in the Guardian's faces. He wanted to cheer and mock. He want to literally throw in their faces the glory Jack has had when destroying the only chance of Easter.

But he couldn't bring himself to do so.

Instead, he stood in the field of crushed eggs. The longer he basked under their heart breaking eyes, the more Jack began to feel regret. Jack's eyes darted from each Guardian, his head moving back and forth between Bunny, and Sandy, North and Tooth. _I caused this. _

The Warren was silent. The silence was crushing Jack, locking him into the ground, leaving him clutching the Nightmare that continued to stand by his side. He saw Pitch still standing behind the Guardians in the distance, smiling smugly at Jack and the accomplishment he had succeeded. Jack couldn't stare at Pitch's victory smile anymore.

He instead took in his surroundings. Seeing the crushed eggs and memorized every detail. The realization sunk in. _I…. I ruined Easter. I did this. This is my fault. _

Jack couldn't take this anymore. He jumped onto the back of the Nightmare and yelled. The Nightmare jumped into the sky before crashing down into the shadows below. Jack couldn't stop the single tear that fell from his blue eye as he watched Bunny collapse on his knees in defeat.

Returning to Pitch's liar, Jack immediately lunged off the Nightmare and bolted to his room. He couldn't stop himself from crying. He couldn't refrain from thinking, _what _have _I done? _He knew nothing was left of Easter, the Guardians. Their only hope lied in Sandy now, and even the Sandman has his limits.

The teeth were gone, along with the memories they held and Easter was gone. Jack couldn't help but blame himself. He collapsed on his bed and tried to stop his crying.

_No! I want this! _

He wanted his world with ice and darkness. He wanted to be with Pitch. This is what he wanted, and nothing can change his mind.

So…. Why was he filled with so much regret?

Jack growled and sat up on his bed, glaring at the bed frame. He shouldn't feel regret towards his actions, he destroyed the eggs because _he wanted to. _He agreed to side with Pitch because _he wanted to. _This is what he wants, and nothing can stop him, not even this…this regret.

Jack's shoulders slouched. He didn't only feel guilty about ruining Easter, but he also felt guilty because he feels like he's betraying Pitch for reacting like this. Jack knew Pitch wanted him to be as dark as him, to be able to laugh at the fear of others. He wanted Jack to be powerful and be the definition of fear like himself, but Jack is disappointing Pitch. He's disappointing him by being weak and still being slightly loyal towards the Guardians. He wished them victory, but he wanted victory too. He wanted his world, his and Pitch's world.

He wanted nothing more than to be believed in, and to never be alone ever again.

**This ending is a mesh of like, 3 different writings. So if it doesn't flow properly... sorry. I'll eventually go back and fix it. **

**Also, I went back and fixed chapter uno and dos. This will most likely be a reoccurring thing because I'm never happy with my writing. **

**See in the chapter four!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, that look longer than expected. Oops. Thanks to those who have all reviewed, followed, favorite-d, etc. It means a lot! :) **

**Like always, sorry for any typos or any other mistakes. I tried to fix them all, but there are always those who manage to slip by. **

**Enjoy! **

Jack was afraid to face Pitch. He knew Pitch had returned and was sitting in the main room, deep in thought, as if waiting for Jack to return from his room. Jack only knew this because currently, he was hiding behind an archway under one of the bridges. He would peep around the brick occasionally, only to see Pitch continue to sit in his chair, unmoving.

Jack leaned away from the opening, and relaxed against the wall. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he had returned from the Warren; he knew it couldn't have been too long. Pitch's patience only goes so far.

Jack didn't know what to say to Pitch. He doesn't know to how to explain what happened nor how to even share his internal battle raging inside of him. He didn't want Pitch doubting him, or to not trust him. Jack knew what he wanted, he just couldn't….

He sighed and slouched against the bridge. He can't even explain to himself what he's feeling. He wants to avoid this topic all together, but he knew Pitch had questions. He just hopes Pitch will understand. Jack still couldn't face him yet. He needed to think. He needed to…. just distract himself from everything.

From across the room, Pitch knew exactly where Jack was and what he was doing. Pitch is never blind in the darkness; he always knows what's happening in the shadows. His loyal Nightmares would also approach him, whispering Jack's new location when he moved every so often.

He decided to wait for Jack to approach him. He expected such a reaction from him. Pitch knew he would fall apart inside with an internal struggle between good and evil. Pitch had been contemplating how to…. remove Jack's Guardian side of him, but nothing seemed logical. The sooner it left Jack, the better.

Pitch sighed, beginning to run out of ideas that were surging threw his mind. He lifted his head from his hand and looked up at the cages.

Jack jerked at Pitch's movement, quickly hiding back behind the bridge. Had he seen him? Jack peeked around the corner, only to see Pitch staring up at the Tooth Fairies. Jack looked up at them as well.

They were silent now. Not even a peep had come from them since they had returned from the Warren. Jack knew why. They could sense the belief in them drop. But….

Jack's eyes darted over to the globe, where lights still continued to flicker. There weren't as many as before, but there were still at least a few dozen. Jack wondered what was next in Pitch's plan. All the lights must be out before their real plan went into action.

"Jack."

Jack jumped at his name, and immediately hid back behind the bridge.

"You can't hide in the shadows from me, Jack," Pitch said, amused.

Jack knew this, but he still felt safer in the shadows, hidden from the eye, even if Pitch did see him.

"Come here."

Jack cautiously stepped out of the shadows of the bridge and carefully looked around the archway. Pitch was staring directly at him. His legs were crossed and his head rested on his hand again. He appeared bored and impatient. Jack, fearing the outcome of this conversation, continued to stay behind the safety of the bridge.

"Jack," Pitch called warningly, his voice louder than before.

Although, the outcome of Pitch's impatience and Jack's disobedience towards him will be much worse than his raging questions. Choosing the safest option, Jack tightened his grip on his staff and jumped into the air, landing on the bridge. He looked over at Pitch once more before jumping down from the bridge and over to the globe where Pitch's throne resigned by.

Pitch's eyes moved over Jack as he walked slowly over, observing him. Pitch didn't say a word as Jack stopped directly in front of him and stared down, never making full eye contact.

"Ja-"

"I'm sorry," Jack quickly interrupted, his eyes never leaving his feet. "I shouldn't have ran, I shouldn't have…cried. I just couldn't help but feel like it was _wrong _but it _wasn't. _I know it wasn't wrong. I wanted to do it but I…. it's just… they-"

"Silence, Jack," Pitch demanded, lifting his head from his hand. He snatched onto Jack's arm and pulled him down. Jack fell right into Pitch's lap and Pitch didn't hesitate when wrapping his arms around him. Jack could only tense up at the contact and continue to stare at his feet.

"My Prince of Nightmares," Pitch whispered. "You have nothing to be a ashamed of."

"But-" Pitch's hand quickly covered Jack's mouth.

"This feelings you have are only temporary." Pitch's hand moved from Jack's mouth and traced under his blue eye. "Eventually, you won't feel remorse or guilt. You won't even bat an eyelash when the Guardians are no more. You will rule the new world with me, and nothing will be regretful."

Jack sighed, beginning to relax as he listened to Pitch's words.

"You just need to be patient, Nightmare Prince," Pitch soothed. "Soon, this," he tapped Jack's eye gently. Jack jerked back at the poke and swatted at Pitch's hand. Pitch chuckled. "This will be gone. No more. You won't even remember what this once was. From that moment, you will forever be in the shadows with me and me alone."

_Don't listen to him. Lies. Lies. Lies! _Jack squeezed his eyes shut and curled into Pitch, leaning his head against Pitch's collarbone.

"I just want it to go away," he cried. "I want all of that, what you said. Everything. I want to live in the shadows with you forever, to be feared, to rule, to…" He sighed. "It keeps stopping me. It tells me you're lying, that I should go back to the Guardians and that I'm hypnotized by your nightmares. I feel like it's eating me alive and I can't _do anything_ to stop it."

"Shh," Pitch whispered. He continued to stroke Jack's hair.

"I don't care if you have to rip my eye out. Make it go away!"

"Now, now," Pitch said calmly. "There's no need for such actions."

"How do we make it go away?" Jack mumbled.

Pitch was quiet. Jack looked up at the king, one eye full of tears the other just as dark and resentful as Pitch's.

"We'll think of something."

xxxx

It's been a few days since Easter was destroyed, and Pitch sensed that the Guardians were searching for his liar. Nightmares have been reporting back every so often with news of their location, and every time, Pitch's smile grew. Jack was nervous to face the Guardians, but Pitch said he had to be done.

"We either go to them, or they come to us," Pitch explained. "And I'm rather enjoying their pathetic search. They're so close, yet they don't even know it."

Jack hung around the main room most of the time with Pitch. He watched Pitch organize his Nightmares and listen to their whispered, unknown words, giving him updates on the Guardians. Pitch would occasionally laugh and whisper quietly back to the Nightmares. Jack never heard words during these exchanges, and wasn't really sure if he wanted to know.

Jack would either sit in Pitch's "throne", or play up in the ceiling, scaring the little teeth that weren't paying attention. Pitch would enjoy watching those moments. He would watch Jack creep from under the cage, and scream at the little bugs. The bugs would scream back and fall off their perches in surprise. Jack would laugh like crazy before continuing to fly around again.

They were in the library when Pitch and Jack discovered the Guardians were close.

Jack was sitting on the floor, leaning his back against Pitch's legs, who sat in the chair behind him. Pitch was currently reading a book which Jack honestly wasn't sure what anything said. He peeked at the cover when Pitch pulled it out, but it seemed like a bunch of odd lines put together. Jack tried to read one of Pitch's books, but the words seemed foreign and different. He ended up just flipping through the pages, pretending to read.

A Nightmare had burst from the shadows, startling Jack and maybe Pitch as well. His legs had shaken lightly at the sudden entrance. The Nightmare quickly trotted over, leaning over Jack to face Pitch. A silent communication passed between the two before Pitch slammed his book closed.

"What?" he snapped.

The Nightmare jumped back, its ears flat. Pitch stood straight the chair, glaring at nothing in particular. Jack looked up at Pitch, still leaning against his legs.

"What's up?" he asked.

"They're nearly here," Pitch explained, seeming to calm down slightly. A wicked smile began to form on his face.

"As in-"

"The Guardian's, Jack." Pitch sat back down in his chair. "They're very close."

"Where-?"

"Burgess."

Very close indeed.

Jack wasn't sure if he was ready to encounter North, Tooth, Sandy and Bunny, if he still existed. After the talk with Pitch, Jack felt more comfortable around him. He felt closer and trusted him completely now. Pitch had shared an idea that if the Guardians were gone, the old Jack inside the new Jack will vanish as well. He had no choice but to face the Guardians now.

The other Jack was screaming. It was, once again, holding him back. He couldn't feel the excitement and bitterness Pitch felt towards the Guardians. He wanted that excitement though. He wanted to freeze them. He imagined the Tooth Fairy would make a beautiful ice sculpture. The other Jack was begging him to stop those thoughts and fantasies.

"What's the plan?" Jack finally asked after several minutes of silence.

"You tell me," Pitch said.

"Wait, what?" Jack looked behind his shoulder at Pitch. "You don't have a plan?"

"No." Pitch smiled. "Do you?"

"W-well we need one!" Jack stuttered, shocked that Pitch, who was everything about strategy and planning, _had no plan. _

"Then make one."

"A-are you serious?!" Jack turned in his spot, he kneeled in front of Pitch, staring wide-eyed at him. "I don't make plans, I follow them. Actually, I don't even follow them, I just kind of do what I – "

"Jack," Pitch interrupted. "What have I said about the rambling?"

Jack immediately closed his mouth and nodded, keeping silent. Pitch leaned over and patted Jack's head softly.

"If you want a plan," Pitch explained. "Make one."

Jack opened his mouth but no words came out. "I…"

He looked up at Pitch's eyes, trying to find a hint of what he was supposed to do. None came.

"You want me." Jack pointed at himself. "To make the plans on how to attack the Guardians?"

"Well, they're going to attack us. We're on defensive, Jack," Pitch said.

Jack hesitated. "But if we're going to take down the Guardians, we need to be on 'offensive'."

Pitch's mouth slowly turned into a smile. "Of course."

Jack's eyes darted over to the Nightmare, still standing next to the Pitch, most likely giving him updates every minute.

"So we need them on defensive?" Jack asked.

Pitch's smiled widened. He nodded. "How, Jack? How will we put them on 'defensive'."

_No. _Jack shook his head at the voice.

"We…" Jack paused, his mind ticking. "Ambush them?"

"Go on." Pitch's smile was a full grin.

"We definitely need to get Sandy," Jack explained, his confidence boosting at Pitch's reactions. "He is the only one keeping the belief. Tooth and Bunnymund are useless and most likely weakened. North is effected by this too, probably, but once Sandy is gone, they'll be nothing but weak."

Pitch slowly trailed his fingers down Jack's cheek. "Perfect."

"We'll get rid of Sandy tonight." _No. _"The Guardians will be powerless." _Stop! _"Then next time." _Don't do this! _"We will be the ones to attack." _NO! _"And they'll be no more."

"_Jack, what have you done?"_

Pitch's smiled faded into a frown. His finger traced under Jack's eye, and Jack suddenly became aware of the wetness that had accumulated. The tear on Pitch's finger immediately froze up. Jack quickly moved his head away.

"I'm – "

Pitch's hands grasped Jack's head and brought him up to meet his eyes. "Don't apologize, Jack." More frozen tears feel onto Pitch's finger. "Temporary reaction. Soon, it'll be gone."

Jack nodded.

"How should we ambush them, Prince of Nightmares?" Pitch whispered, his eyes never leaving Jack's.

Jack hesitated. "Use the…. Nightmares?"

"Good." Pitch patted his head softly. "We don't we go gather them."

Pitch was the one to gather all the Nightmares. He circled the globe calmly, strangely relaxed as Nightmare after Nightmare appeared before him. Some would appear by Jack as well. Jack often brushed his hand over their velvety sand, looking for some type of reassurance. The Nightmares, naturally sensing his fear, would rub themselves against Jack roughly, making him laugh.

"They are really quite fond of you," Pitch explained.

"Yeah?" Jack laughed, grabbing onto the Nightmare for a hug.

"Usually they'll feed of any type of fear," he said. "However, they don't necessarily want to feed off yours."

"Do they feed off yours?" Jack asked.

"I don't have any fears, Jack."

_Everyone has fears_, Jack thought, but didn't dare say it out loud.

A single rock fell form the ceiling, hitting the globe with a _clank. _Both Pitch and Jack looked up. More rocks began to fall, along with multiple _booms. _Someone was trying to break in.

"Seems like our guests have arrived."

**I have this joke in my head that Pitch has a throne. Like, a legit full on throne. I know in the movie that there isn't one, but Pitch is such a cocky, asshole he _needs_ a throne. **

**I really wish I can just drag this on and just write a bunch of awesome, filler stuff but, there's a time schedule, and the Guardians won't destroy themselves. (I'm a horrible person.)**

******Sorry for the short chapter, I didn't want to merge this chapter and the BIG BATTLE SCENE WHICH WILL MOST LIKELY BE ANTI-CLIMATIC BECAUSE I CAN'T WRITE FIGHTING. **

******(Also, on a side note, I don't know how long this story will be, but it will not end after the battle scene because SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.)**

******See you in chapter five! **


	5. Chapter 5

**So I was thinking. I should space out the updates every few days. I could get more followers, I can have a consistent schedule, I could - Oh, wait. No one cares. Let's post chapter five the day after I post chapter four! Wooo! **

**A promise is a promise. To those I answered back saying the chapter will up today... Guess what. It's up. It's so high up... it can't come down. It can't even fall to the middle. 'Cause it's UP. **

**Bam. **

**As always, sorry for the typos. The day there isn't a typo in a chapter will be the day the world will blow up. Which will hopefully not be for a long, long time. **

**Enjoy! :)**

Pitch seemed as calm as ever when sitting in his throne, listening to the loud knocks that were heard overhead. The Guardians had been "knocking" for a few minutes now, and with each knock, more rocks were falling. The opening they were creating was getting deeper and closer. Soon, they'll be pouring from the ceiling.

Jack, on the other hand, was a wreck. He was pacing around Pitch's chair, ignoring the eyes from Nightmares and even Pitch who watched him pace rapidly. His staff was leaning against the throne as Jack had to do something his hands besides simply hold it. He would rub his hands together or mess with his clothes. Either way, his hands never stopped moving.

He couldn't wait for the Guardians to enter. He was ready to end them, to get rid of the obstacle that was stopping him and Pitch from creating their world. He was angry with them. Furious. They had never cared about him. He was just a "kid", "irresponsible" and "selfish". They would have never thought to seek Jack Frost has an ally to stop the boogeyman. They blatantly ignored him for three hundred years. Everyone ignored him. No one ever saw him. No one ever heard him. They said his name as a joke, said it was just an expression.

Well, not anymore. Everything was going to change once the Guardians will be gone. Everyone will know who Jack Frost will be. They will see him. They will hear him. They are going to tremble at his presences and regret that they never once believed in him. Now instead, they're going to fear him.

Jack was also scared. He was worried, frightened. He was desperate for the Guardians to come so they can save him. He wants them to unleash his inner Guardian so he can be the Jack Frost he once was. He wanted to work with them, to be believed in with their help. Five against one, Pitch won't even have a chance to blink.

But they can never _help _him. They never wanted to, so how is now different? "You don't realize what you have until you lost it", and Jack hoped they are suffering because of that. Jack knew he deserved better, he deserved to be believed in, _feared in, _and Pitch is the only one who can help achieve that.

That's why Jack needed to go back to the Guardians. They realized that without Jack, they wouldn't be able to defeat Pitch and bring back the wonder, hope, dreams and belief in children. They'll appreciate Jack more. They'll do anything to help him get his belief. They'll regret what they did for the past three centuries, but everything will end happily.

Jack growled under his breath, seizing his pacing. No! Their regret won't be passed by so easily. They're going to beg for Jack's forgiveness. He wants their guilt and regret to consume them, _to_ _kill them. _And he's going to make sure that happens.

Jack glanced over at Pitch, who stared at him curiously. "Something on your mind, Jack?" he mocked.

Jack huffed and stomped over, sitting on Pitch's lap. His silence and action was a clear answer. Pitch laughed quietly, wrapping his arm around Jack while the other still rested under his chin as he leaned on it.

"Remember, it won't las-"

"Yeah, yeah," Jack mumbled, interrupting. "I know."

The arm around Jack moved up towards his hair. Pitch ran his fingers through it.

"Patience."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Jack cried, moving his eyes to Pitch's. "What if even if the Guardians are gone, I still have this…. this… _thing _inside of me?"

"Then we'll try something else."

Jack groaned and moved his head towards the cages. The Tooth Fairies have been active since the pounding. They're chirping in excitement, like they're cheering on the Guardians. The cages were swaying dangerously though. Jack wondered if they'll stay put any longer.

"Like what?" Jack asked quietly, losing hope.

Pitch was silent. "They should enter any moment."

Jack's shoulders slouched. Pitch had no other idea. Jack moved from Pitch's lap to the arm of the stone chair. He grabbed onto his staff and looked down at it, watching the black swirls mix with this frost ones. Pitch's hand still continued to comb through his hair, and Jack relaxed into the touch, glad to receive the comfort.

Jack leaned into his staff, debating whether to say anything to the Guardians or not. Jack knew Pitch was going to say something. Gloat, mock, tease. This is Pitch Black, of course he was going to say something. Jack decided to let Pitch do all the talking. He'll do the fighting.

"Why don't you go get ready," Pitch said, stroking Jack's hair one last time before letting go.

Jack nodded and jumped into the air, letting the wind push him to the ceiling. He found the area were the rock was beginning the crack. He held up his staff, and waited.

It wasn't long before the rock completely shattered and a gapping hole was left. Jack's grip tightened, aiming. The liar was silent. The Nightmares were hidden in the shadows, and Pitch sat calmly in his chair. The ambush was ready, and so was Jack.

….But nothing came. Seconds ticked on and nothing passed through the entrance. Jack frowned, but he never once loosened his hold on the staff. A single rock fell down from the opening, but nothing else. Where were the Guardians?

Jack's eyes moved down to Pitch. Even Pitch looked confused. Then his eyes narrowed, shooting around the liar. He stood from his chair quickly, his eyes never resting. Jack grew suspicious. If they weren't coming from there, then where –

The rock next to Jack exploded. Jack tumbled through the air, nearly dropping his staff from his death grip. Bunny stood at the opening of the explosion, his boomerang in hand. Jack growled at Bunny. How is he still _him?_ He has no more believers! Furious, Jack shot a burst a frost at him. Bunny easily dodged the frost, launching his boomerang at Jack.

Jack ducked just as easily as a Nightmare burst from the shadows and lunged at Bunny. Bunny quickly disposed of the Nightmare in time for North to fall from the original opening.

Jack stared at North in confusion. _What was going on?!_ Jack's eyes quickly moved down to Pitch. His eyes widened. Pitch was fighting with the Sandman. Pitch swung his scythe around at the same time Nightmares attacked Sandy. Sandy easily fended them off. A whip had latched onto Pitch's wrist, and Pitch seemed to freeze, his scythe barely touching the top of Sandy's head before he was yanked to the ground.

Jack yelled. This was supposed to be their winning battle! They can't lo-!

Something wrapped around Jack, restraining his movements and tangling himself up between the openings of the restraint. Jack fell to the ground, his hands feeling empty of his staff. Jack panicked. He screamed in frustration and fear, tearing at the net as it fell with him. Jack's vision was out of control and he couldn't focus on anything.

Jack never hit the ground though; he was caught. The net hung from something and Jack continued to thrash around in it. Something was yelled, and light appeared in front of Jack. Jack eye's widened in realization. It was portal.

"Pitch!" Jack screamed. "Pitch! Help! PITCH!"

Jack desperately tugged at the netting, trying to free himself. He was flung effortlessly into the portal, his screams dying out as darkness took over.

* * *

A loud sound had Jack opening his eyes again. The first thing he noticed when awakening was the grey ceiling. It was small, not even long enough for Jack to spread his arms freely on it.

Jack sat up, confused. _Where am I? _Jack rattled his brain, trying to remember what had happened. The Guardians were breaking in; Jack and Pitch were going to ambush them, then –

Jack's eyes widened. No. No, no, no! No! He immediately stood and took in his surroundings. He was in a cage. He was trapped, locked up like some…. some kind of animal! Jack grabbed onto the bars of the cage and looked around the room.

The big globe sat before Jack, the few dozen of lights still shining strong. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. He was in North's workshop. He was at the North Pole. That means…

"Pitch!" Jack screamed, moving to all four sides of the small cage. Where was Pitch? Where was he?! "Pitch!"

"Cricky, mate. Quiet down."

Jack looked for the voice. Bunny stood near the fireplace, no doubt cold from the snow. Jack growled. He charged towards Bunny, but was stopped by the bars.

"Let me out!" he screamed, pulling at the bars violently.

"Are you sure that cage is going to hold 'em?" Bunny mumbled. North appeared from behind the doorway, holding a plate of cookies.

"It's a special kind of cage, Bunny. It'll hold him just fine." North walked slowly over towards Jack.

Jack growled at North, glaring at him. "Let me go," he seethed.

"Cookie?" North asked, offering the plate to Jack. Jack flicked his hand out of the cage; hitting the plate and having it crash to the ground.

"Guess not," Bunny grumbled.

Jack breathed roughly through his nose. "Release me. _Now._"

"Sorry, frostbite," Bunny said. "No can do."

"You're going to release me _now _or else!" he yelled, pulling at the bars again.

"Or else what?" Bunny challenged.

Jack smirked, his hand automatically reaching towards his right. He only touched the bar of the cage though. Then it hit Jack. Where was his staff? Bunny smirked back, knowing Jack was useless without it

"Where is my staff?" Jack demanded.

"Hidden," North explained.

"Hidden where?! Give it back!"

"Stop ya' screaming, will you?" Bunny complained.

"Give me my staff!"

"That's it." Bunny raised his boomerang and North stepped between the two.

"Now, now, Bunny," North said calmly. "We need him to be awake."

"Not when he won't pipe down!" Bunny yelled.

North sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Relax, Bunny. This won't take long."

"What won't take long?" Jack demanded.

Bunny rolled his eyes. "We're going to get you back, mate."

"You can't 'get me back'," Jack said bitterly.

"Man in Moon says we can, so we shall!" North explained, grinning.

"Man on the Moon," Jack grumbled. "What a joke."

Bunny narrowed his eyes at him. Jack glared back.

"Sandy will be here soon, then we will begin," North said, turning towards the globe.

"How are you even still walking?" Jack asked suddenly, still glaring at Bunny, grinding his teeth.

"There's still belief, mate," Bunny explained. "Not a lot, but enough."

"Yeah, well, not for long."

Bunny was about to respond when the door was swung open, relieving a startled Tooth, her feet on the ground.

"What is this about my fairies being in Pitch's lair _caged, _and the only thing you manage to do is grab Jack before leaving?" she demanded. Jack snarled at the mention of his kidnapping. "You do realize if you just released my fairies we would have my belief back?"

Jack laughed. The three Guardians' gazes moved to him. Tooth's feathers ruffled. She glared at Jack.

"I don't see how this is funny, _Jack Frost,_" she spat.

"You can't just open the cages and expect everything to end happily ever after, " Jack laughed, but he stopped. "They can't fly anymore, _Tooth. _Just like you."

Her glare intensified.

"They're pointless. I mean, even if they did fly, what could they do?" Jack shrugged casually. "'Oh, bring the memories back to the children so they'll remember us and believe in us'. Ha, ha. Cute."

"You underestimate them!" she yelled.

"But guess what," Jack growled. "They can't fly. They will never fly! Never! Again!"

"Yes they will!" she cried.

Bunny groaned and rubbed at his ears. "Once again, enough with the yelling!"

Jack rolled his eyes and sat in the middle of the cage. Tooth continued to shake in anger, her feathers still spiked up.

"We couldn't get to them, Tooth," North explained quietly. "Sandy had Pitch under control, but for how long? He's affected by this like all of us."

"No, he's only the one making _sure_ we aren't affected by this," Bunny jumped in. "Without him, we-"

"Bunny!" Tooth whispered loudly.

Jack looked up in time to see her gesturing towards him. Bunny raised his paws defensively. Jack sighed. He already knew this information. They were basically repeating his thoughts on the situation earlier. At least he knew Pitch was all right. Sandy escaped soon after Jack was tossed into the portal, leaving Pitch alone without his prince. He wrapped his arms around his legs, already missing the warmth Pitch's touch brought.

"Ah, Sandy!" North greeted.

Jack didn't bother looking up at Sandy; it was his fault Pitch wasn't able to help him. _Good job, Sandy. _Jack growled. _Do you mind? _He argued back.

"He's perfectly fine, see for yourself," North said.

_ Yeah, I'm just peachy. _

"Of course, Sandy, go ahead."

_What? _Jack looked up from the ground to see Sandy floating over. Jack tensed up, scooting back until his back hit the bars. He wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

Sandy stared at Jack curiously, as if complementing on something. Jack frowned at Sandy, wondering what Sandy was going to do. A cloud of sand appeared in his palm. Jack watched it as it trailed from Sandy's hand towards him. He could only stare is it circled around him a bit before rubbing against his skin. The sand immediately turned black.

Jack's eyes widened and he captured a bit of the sand between his hands. The gold sand quickly departed back to Sandy, leaving the black said to absorb into the pile in Jack's hand. Jack peeked inside his hands, seeing the black sand swirl inside. He wasn't sure why he caught it; he just had the instinct to get it away from Sandy's golden touch. He had to keep it safe.

"What did that accomplish?" Bunny asked, clearly impatient.

Sandy shook his head at Jack before turning away.

"Nothing," North translated.

"Are you going to get him back?" Tooth whispered. Jack barely heard.

"We can only hope," North whispered back.

**Wow. Umm. Okay? Rebeckajane, WTF? Where's the epic battle scene you promised?**

**... Well. I don't know. I thought it'd be funnier to have Jack kidnapped, because who doesn't want Jack Frost hog tied to their bed naked I MEAN THROWN IN A CAGE BY THE GUARDIANS SO BUNNY CAN MOLES - _I MEAN LETS STOP HERE._**

**I actually didn't plan on having Jack captured by the Guards. I was planning, "Oh, yeah, battle. Kill Sandy. Oh no, Guardians are dead. BUT WAIT, there's SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER."**

**That's too simple. Let's ruin Team Nightmare's ambush by having the Guardians having an UNEXPECTED ambush who were EXPECTING Team Nightmare to HAVE an ambush BECAUSE this is PITCH we are talking about. **

**So to continue this long AN, lemme explain a few things. Pitch is a wuss, naturally Sandy will always win against him during a close range battle. Jack DOES underestimate the Tooth Fairies, because he doesn't know SQUAT about anything. Tooth can't fly anymore because it's been about... 5 days (?) since the teeth were last collected. Sandy's dreams are continuing to bring belief. He can make the children believe in the Guardians through dreams, but only if they still have that little belief left. Those few dozen of lights, yeah, Sandy is making sure they don't go out. Bunny is still... Bunny because of that belief. If 6 lights can make him badass again, a few dozen can help him go strong. **

**Fun fact: I almost ended the chapter after Jack was thrown into North's snow globe portal. But I didn't. _You're welcome. _**

**What will Team Guardian do next? Will the Man on the Moon be able to help? What will become of Jack? WHERE THE HELL IS PITCH? Find out next time... in chapter 6. **


	6. Chapter 6

**You guys are _amazing. _Seriously. I woke up this morning to find 13 messages on my email from fanfiction with alerts from favorites, followers, reviews... Gah, you guys are awesome. Talk about motivation. **

**Hmm. Not much to be said at the moment, but like always, sorry for all the typos aaaaand ENJOY. **

"So let's get on with this," Bunny exclaimed, his impatience clearly showing.

Jack rolled his eyes. The Guardians have been arguing for the past several minutes, trying to decide on how to put this _mysterious plan_ into motion. North seemed to have a definite plan, Tooth went along with North, naturally, Bunny just wanted whatever plan they had to begin and Sandy, well, he was the main reason why this plan wasn't happening.

A montage of pictures flashed over Sandy's hand, directing himself towards Bunny. Jack didn't brother to pay attention or try to translate Sandy's message. Jack honestly didn't care. He was bored. He was exhausted. He just wanted to leave. He wanted to "boogey" out of here. Jack snickered at his own joke. This caught Bunny's attention.

"What's so funny, frostbite?" he snapped.

"Oh, nothing," Jack answered, his tone light and carefree. Bunny waited for him to say something else, but Jack only smiled innocently up at Bunny.

"Can we just kill him?" Bunny asked.

"No!" Tooth and North yelled. Sandy seemed to have a freak out with the rapid pictures that were flashing over his head.

Jack rolled his eyes and rested his head back in his hand. He looked down into his other hand. The black sand he had caught earlier was still twirling in his palm. Jack wasn't sure what to do with it. Could it help him? Jack shook his head slightly. Probably not. This was Pitch's sand, only he can control.

"But what if this," Tooth hesitated, her hands flailing around the room. "Doesn't work?"

"Why would it not work?" North asked, his tone suggesting he was doubting himself.

"Well, what if it harms him?" she asked, her hands trembling at her side.

Jack frowned. What _were _they planning? The sand in his hand caught his attention again. It was spinning more quickly now, beginning to take a shape. Jack stared at it closely as a small Nightmare formed from the sand. It trotted in his palm, not even bigger than the size of it. This was…. Tooth's fear?

The horse jumped from Jack's hand and flew around him. Jack grinned, lifting up his finger so the Nightmare can rub itself on it. Jack laughed quietly. _So cuddly_. The Nightmare froze from its rubbing, looking towards where the Guardians were still arguing. It quickly jumped from Jack's finger and hid in the hood of Jack's hoodie.

Jack understood the Nightmare's intention. If the Guardians saw, especially Sandy, it'll be converted back to dream sand. Jack tried his best to ignore the little horse resting on his neck.

He wanted to hold it, to feel Tooth's fear it possessed. He yearned to absorb it. Jack hoped though, the Nightmare will be able to reach out towards Pitch. Pitch does control all Nightmares, and seems to be aware of where every single one is. Jack knew that Pitch was aware that he was at the North Pole. Where else? He just hoped that the Nightmare would provide a little aid in his plan of rescuing Jack.

"Listen…" Jack brought his attention back to Bunny's voice. "Let's just get this over with, then Sandy can do his thing."

_Thing? _Jack wondered.

"I don't want to go through with this if it hurts, Jack," Tooth mumbled nervously.

North sighed heavily. "It's the only option."

"But what if we defeat Pitch first?" Tooth suggested. "Then maybe the nightmare sand controlling him will vanish?"

_This sounds familiar. _

The other Guardians seemed to think on this. Jack groaned. He was not going to sit here in a cage while the Guardians go battle Pitch. Pitch needs his help, and Jack was going to make sure his help was available.

"It's not like he would be any help anyways."

This floored Jack. He stared in horror at Bunny, not believing his ears. The Guardians saw him as useless? A pointless pawn in their master plan of defeating Pitch? Jack knew it. He knew it all along. The Guardians would have never sought his help without the Man on the Moon. They would have never considered him an ally. They were just following Manny's orders.

Well, now they're going to regret not seeking his help.

Jack had to hold in his fit of rage. _Stay calm_, he told himself. _You'll figure out something. _He strained to listen to his inner voice, which has been oddly silent since his kidnapping. All Jack heard was silence and a feeling of sorrow. Even the "good Jack" was betrayed by Bunny's words. Jack couldn't help but feel that same sense of betrayal.

"So we'll leave him here," North announced.

Jack glared at the floor. No, he was not going to sit here and _wait. _

"Sandy," North gestured. Jack looked up to see Sandy saluting, gathering his sand to form an airplane. He was leaving?

"Where are you going?" Jack demanded, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Call it phase one of this plan, mate," Bunny explained. Sandy was hesitating getting into his plane.

Jack frowned in confusion. So there's a new plan?

"And what is this 'phase one'?" Jack asked.

"To bring the belief back."  
Jack looked over at Sandy, his mind swirling. _That's it. _Sandy was going to bring the belief back. He had the power to, through his dream sand. Him maintaining the dozens of lights had been child's play. Now he was really going to stop Pitch by bringing all the lights back. Jack's eyes widened. The tooth fairies will be able to fly, and Tooth's full belief will be back, leaving the Guardians back where they started.

And Pitch's work would have been for nothing.

The Nightmare jumped from Jack's neck, roared at the Guardians before running quickly out the window.

"Not good!" Bunny yelled, reaching for his boomerang.

Jack panicked. The Nightmare had to reach Pitch to tell him! Jack grabbed the bars of the cage, freezing them solid. He took a step back before charging into the frozen bars. The bars broke under his weight and he tackled Bunny just as the boomerang was released.

"Get off!" Bunny yelled.

"Make me!" Jack screamed, trying to pin him to the ground.

Hands wrapped around his shoulders and he was yanked back. He fell off Bunny roughly and rolled to his side. Golden whips slashed in the area he was before. He sat up and stared at the faces of the Guardians. Each had their weapons out. Jack knew he couldn't win against all four.

_Don't hurt them, _the voice cried.

"Shut up!" Jack yelled at it.

"Calm down, Jackie," Bunny tried to soothe.

"You too!" he snapped.

"Jack, we'll fix you," North explained. He set his sabers on the ground. "You just need to clam down and – "

"Fix me!" Jack repeated, mocking his words. "I don't need to be _fixed_. What I do need is what you have! Belief! Appreciation! Acknowledgment! And I'm going to get those."

All the Guardians stared wide-eyed at Jack.

"Jack," Tooth began slowly. "We believe in you. We appreciate you. We acknowledge you. Now we need you to believe in us."

"No!" he yelled. "Not anymore!"

"Crickey," Bunny mumbled, his eyes moving behind Jack.

"What?!" he yelled, turning around.

_Oh, perfect. _Bunny's boomerang returned then, nailing Jack hard in the face. Jack fell to the ground by the impact, screaming at the pain that exploded on his face. His eye throbbed painfully and felt blood trickle from his eyebrow.

"That couldn't have worked better," Bunny explained. "…What? At least he's quiet now."

"Let's put him back in the cage," North ordered.

Jack lifted his head at that. "Oh, no!" He jumped to his feet, still holding his eye. Jack couldn't help but smile at Tooth's sigh of relief. She must have been worried about his teeth. Same old Tooth-

"Stop it!" he shouted at himself, grabbing onto his hair with both hands. "Go away."

"Uhh, guys?" Tooth asked.

"Jack, who are you talking to?" North asked.

Jack shook his head at him, tears falling from both his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but the voice yelled at him. _Don't say another word to them!_ Jack couldn't bring himself yell back at it.

"Jack?" North asked, his eyes scrunching together in worry.

"This is all your fault!" he finally yelled.

He stomped his foot on the ground and floor immediately turned to ice. The Guardians tried to rush at him from the movement, but all slipped. Jack bolted past the four, Sandy being the only one to float himself from the ice while the others struggled to stand.

He shot from the room on a mission to hunt down his staff. He ran down the hallway of North's workshop, peering into rooms as he passed them. Yetis yelled after him in question and elves barely managed to move before being trampled by him.

_If I were North where would I hide… Wait! _A flash of North's office, his private workroom, crossed his mind. Of course, North's most personal and private place. Jack jumped from the railing of the balcony, and landed on a table below, toys scattering onto the floor. The yeti yelled at him, but was ignored. Jack jumped form table to table, knocking toys to the ground but never lost his momentum.

He jumped onto a pillar, climbing up quickly. When he reached the top, he heard the Guardians call after him. The yetis heard the voices, and they all turned to him. _Great. _Jack no longer had four Guardians on his trail, but an army of yetis as well.

Soon, North's office was found and rushed inside. The door slammed open, hitting the wall roughly and no doubt leaving a dent.

_There! _Jack's staff was laying across North's workbench, still in one piece and unharmed. Having the staff back in his hands, Jack felt more relaxed and less vulnerable.

"Frostbite."

Jack turned, his staff raised at the ready. Bunny stood in the doorway, being the first to reach him.

"Sorry, cottontail. You can't stop me." Jack slowly backed himself up, towards the windows behind him.

"I big to differ," Bunny unsheathed his boomerang, swinging his arm back.

"I'm sorry," Jack repeated, his voice thick from sadness and desperation. Bunny frowned, lowering his arm.

Jack raised his staff, ready to shoot. Ready to end the Easter Bunny. One less nuisance, he thought. Oh, how Pitch will be proud. He tightened his grip, taking aim. Bunny stood frozen on the spot, not even trying to defend himself. Jack snarled at him.

"Defend yourself!" he yelled. "I want you to fight!"

Bunny looked at Jack before looking at the boomerang in his hand. "No." The boomerang clattered on the ground. The room was dead silent. _Stop. _

Jack's hands began to shake. "Fine. Die without a fight, you pathetic furball."

"I'm waiting," Bunny said, stretching out his arms.

Jack grinned, his hands gripping the staff even tighter. _Drop the staff. _His knuckles were white and his arms were shaking from the grip. He couldn't loosen his hold. He couldn't stop shaking. _Don't hurt him._ He growled, stretching the staff closer to Bunny. Bunny didn't even blink, his eyes never left Jack's. _Please. _

Jack's hands suddenly loosened and he took a step back. He couldn't do it. No matter how much energy he gave himself to kill Bunny, to freeze him for eternity, he couldn't pull the trigger.

Bunny continued to watch him. _Thank you. _Jack huffed at the voice, irritated beyond belief. Jack stared back Bunny, his staff no longer held up as a weapon but held defensively in case of attack.

"You're still in there, Jackie," Bunny mumbled.

Jack's eyes widened and he rose the staff again. He shot a burst of frost, not letting his mind think. A blur of green managed to push Bunny out of the way. The frost hit an unsuspecting yeti instead. The yeti froze on the spot, its whole body stilled in a single motion of surprise.

"Bunny, are you okay?"

Jack looked from the yeti-scile to Bunny who was being helped up by Tooth. Jack and Bunny made eye contact. Bunny looked disappointed and Jack felt…

He wasn't sure what he felt. He was mad that he missed, but his heart tugged painfully at the thought that he froze a yeti, no doubt killing it.

Jack found himself lifted off the ground, his staff yanked from his hands and his arms help securely outstretched beside him. Two yetis held him high above the ground, their hold on Jack's arms becoming very uncomfortable from the firm grip.

North stood in the doorway next to the frozen yeti, glaring at Jack.

"Put him back in his cage."

"No, no, no, wait!" Jack yelled, kicking his feet. He was _not _going back in that cage. "It was an accident!"

North spun around, his glare signifying that looks do indeed kill. He gestured towards the frozen yeti. "How is this accident? This not accident, Jack."

Jack continued to kick his feet. "This is all your fault, old man! You shouldn't have brought me here! Let me go!"

North shook his head and turned back around, staring sadly at his old friend. The two yetis holding Jack managed to squeeze past and were carrying him back towards the globe room.

Jack screamed and shouted. He kicked his legs and tried to pull his arms free. Nothing worked. His throat was sore and his arms were bruised by the time they reached the room.

Jack was horrified to discover Sandy was gone. Tooth, Bunny and North were still in his North's private workshop. Which meant Sandy left to bring back the belief.

Jack was brutally thrown back into his cage. He tumbled on the ground before crashing into the other side. The yetis glared cruelly at him before slamming the door shut, locking it. Jack noticed the hole he left in the cage was repaired. Only the ice on the ground near it was evidence of his break out.

The yetis left, and Jack found himself alone.

He stared at the globe, watching new lights begin to flicker. They weren't nearly as bright as the others, but they were there. Sandy is succeeding. Pitch had to stop him.

Jack curled into a ball, collapsing on his side. _You deserve this. _

"Shut up," Jack mumbled.

_You deserve more than this actually. Consider yourself lucky. _

He simply ignored the voice this time. He forced it back into the inner depths of his mind and focused on the ground instead. He traced every detail with his eyes, memorizing the inconsistent pattern.

Jack went to shut his eyes, but stopped when a shadow across the room caught his eye. He immediately sat up, a grin on his face.

"Pitch?" he called out.

Instead, a Nightmare pulled itself from the shadows, full grown and filled with anger. It trotted over towards Jack quietly and stuck its nose at the bars. Jack laughed and scratched the side of its head. The Nightmare leaned into the touch, enjoying the sensation.

"Any news, buddy?" Jack whispered.

The Nightmare pushed its head forward, its muzzle close to Jack's ear. A defining voice whispered itself in his ear. It was quiet, but the words were clear. The words brought comfort and relief, but also dread. Pitch was coming to find him, which meant he would have to face the Guardians. Jack knows there will be blood spelt, or in this case, yellow, dream sand. The mare pulled itself back, eyeing back momentarily before stepping back into in the shadows. Jack repeated the words in his mind, already counting down the seconds until he'll be reunited with Pitch Black.

_I'll be there soon, my prince._

**Way to go, Jack. Freezing a yeti. (Better than Bunny though.) Sorry if this chapter was... uhh, giving you whiplash. I literally wrote it without thinking much and I read back on it and was like, "Yeah, okay, this could work."**

**Ending is still unknown. I'll go where the wind takes me!**

**How was the cage repaired so quickly? Freaking magic, that's what. Don't think too much on it, and just go with the flow.**

**Oh, by the way, I updated this chapter for my old readers.**

**New headcanon: Pitch can communicate with anyone through his shadows because he is the Nightmare King and he can do whatever he wants. :P**

**And I cannot for the life of me get North and Bunny's accents. Sorry for the poor... demonstration of it, idk. **

**Thank you for all the reviews, favorites, follows, PMs. I love hearing from you guys! Especially Nickypants over here. (Blackice shippers, UNITE.)**

**See you in chapter seven!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Short chapter. Sorry!**

**I'm not exactly happy with this... I changed my mind from my original idea half way through, so that's why its like OH WAIT IDEA LETS DO SOMETHING NEW (you'll see). Well, I didn't exactly "change" my mind, more like... prolonged the idea. (I'm stalling.)**

**I'm sorry if this chapter disappoints, but I promise it'll get better. Typos: predictable and unstoppable. **

**Enjoy! :)**

It's been a whole since dat Jack was kidnapped by the Guardians. Jack always had a guard present; whether it was yetis, North or Bunny. Sandy had been gone the whole time, no doubt spreading the belief by the look of the growing lights on the globe. Tooth would always sit next to Jack. She talked none stop to him, and Jack tried to ignore her, but always ended up responding.

"So what do you and Pitch do?" she asked eagerly.

Jack rolled his eyes, facing the opposite way Tooth was sitting.

"Does he treat you nicely? Does he feed you? Wash you? Have you been brushing you teeth? It doesn't look like you've been brushing your teeth. Jack Frost, you need to brush your teeth –"

"Tooth," Jack snapped, breaking his silence. "I don't eat, I don't need to brush my teeth and Pitch and I just…. hang out."

Tooth paused, pursing her lips. "Define hang out."

Jack groaned throwing his hands on his face. "Bunny, make her leave."  
"No can do, mate," Bunny called from the corner across the room.

"And is why that?" he growled.

"Call it personal punishment."  
"Being here is punishment enough," Jack mumbled. "When can I go? I have stuff to do."

Bunny ignored him and continued gazing out the window. Jack sighed in frustration. _Any time now, Pitch. _

"You should really brush your teeth, Jack," Tooth said after several minutes of silence.

Jack sent tooth a quick glare before standing up in his cage. Bunny immediately responded. He jumped from against the wall, his hand at the ready to snatch his boomerang off his back. Tooth stood as well, taking a couple steps back. Jack went over to the side where he once broke the bars and inspected the slightly visible marks from the break.

"Don't even think about it, snowball," Bunny threatened.

Jack sent him a smirk, grabbing onto the bars without looking away from Bunny.

"Jack," he warned.

Jack's smirked widened and frost began to slowly creep from his hands. Bunny narrowed his eyes at him, pulling his boomerang from the pouch. Jack let go of the bars and the ice quickly melted. Bunny never relaxed.

Occasionally, him and Bunny would play this game. Jack would try something, hinting that he was going to break out, and Bunny would always be ready to attack. Jack was growing impatient waiting for Pitch. He wanted out, and wanted out now.

Jack knew he couldn't escape with Bunny in the room. Tooth was easy to fend off, and even though the yetis were strong, they weren't fast. Same with North, but North can easily defend Jack off, he wouldn't even have a chance to reach the door. His chances were not good.

He had one idea though, that could possibly work. Jack recalled the moment where Bunny opened himself to Jack as a target. _"I'm waiting." _Bunny saw something when looking at him, and he wasn't sure what could have been seen. Bunny still trusted Jack and believed in him. He believed in that moment Jack wouldn't shoot. Jack was going to use this to his advantage.

He wasn't happy about it though, degrading himself to such a level. It was worth a shot though, and maybe, just maybe, Bunny can come close enough for Jack to strike. Or if he was _really _lucky, Bunny will be the one to open the cage door. _Don't even think about it. _

"Bunny," Jack called out quietly.

Bunny glared at Jack, his boomerang still in hand. Jack stared back at him, letting his posture fall and his face relax. He strained to feel what the inner voice was feeling, but all he felt was anger. _Thanks for the help_, he thought to himself.

"I – " Jack started, but stopped. He felt ashamed to even say such a thing, even if he was acting_. _"I'm sorry."

Bunny face twitched, flashing from confusion back to his stern expression.

"I shouldn't have," Jack paused. He can't just flat out say it. _Be sincere. _"Done what I did. With…. everything."

Jack waited for Bunny or Tooth to say something, but his eyes never left Bunny's though. He wasn't sure what Tooth was feeling. All he got was silence, so he continued.

"I remember the moment where Pitch's arrow hit me," he said. "It was like getting hit by a train." He made himself laugh quietly. "I lost control of everything. I couldn't feel, I couldn't respond. I just wished that…. I wish that everything will be back to normal. That I'll be back to normal."

Bunny sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic."

Jack couldn't help but growl. "You're pathetic, you furball! What, did a cat cough you up? Seriously!"

"Your acting is worse than Tooth's," Bunny gestured over at Tooth. "And that's saying something.

Tooth gasped, obviously offended. Jack stormed back to his corner of the cage where he was as far away as Tooth as possible. _Just a little longer, Pitch is on his way. Don't worry. He'll be here soon. _Yet, his impatience still continued to grow.

* * *

With Jack's failed escape plan, the Guardians were more alert and on their toes. With his odds becoming worse, he gave up trying to escape through words and started thinking about escaping through violence.

He decided that he would break out when the yetis were on duty. With them constantly working on the toys then guarding Jack, they had to be exhausted. Also, they weren't fit for battle ready. Were they strong? Yes. Were they aggressive? Yes. Could they break Jack like a tooth pick? Of course. But they were slow, and with Jack's speed, they'll fall behind and Jack can escape.

His next phase was the actual breaking out part. He couldn't decide on this part though. He still needed his staff to at least fly. He'll definitely need it before leaving the North Pole. Fetching his staff will be difficult. Fetching his staff without grabbing anyone's attention was even more difficult.

This lead to his conclusion of this plan, he had to sneaky and quiet. He had to take out two yetis and Tooth without causing a ruckus. Plan "impossible" status: living up to its name.

Jack bounced around ideas what he could accomplish without his staff. He could freeze the ground, he can hover for a short amount of time, he can create frost with his hands…. Jack couldn't be sure of anything though. He has never had to attack without his staff before. He doesn't even remember a moment in his life where he's been more than a few feet away from it.

Jack banged in his head against the bars in frustration. North's head shot up at the noise and quickly looked over at Jack. Jack ignored his stare and looked up at the ceiling.

He could make a quick dash through the workshop, grab it and flee. _Ugh, they probably hid it more carefully this time though. _He was going have to really search for it.

_I have to be sneaky. There's no other way. _Jack looked back over at North, and saw his eyes were closed. _There's no way this could be that easy. _Jack banged his head against the bars again. North jumped slightly but settled back down, mumbling under his breath.

Jack looked around the room, spotting Tooth sitting in a chair, playing with her little fairy. Carefully, he tried peered up at the ceiling of the room, but could only see so far from around the roof of the cage.

Jack sighed quietly. _It's now or never_. He shot Tooth another quick glance who was now looking up at the globe. More lights have appeared, and Jack was becoming very anxious over this fact.

He quietly crawled over to the cage door, inspecting the lock that was secured. He gripped the lock tightly in hand, and shut his eyes concentrating. He opened his eyes a moment later and saw the lock completely covered in ice. He glanced at Tooth one last time before pulling.

The lock breaking made a defining noise and Jack quickly leaned back against the cage, hiding the lock in his hand and looking up the ceiling again, pretending he never moved.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Tooth watching him, then she looked back at North. _Please don't wake him, please don't wake him, please don't wake him… _Tooth only laughed and began entertaining the baby tooth again. Jack sighed in relief.

With Tooth distracted again, he pushed himself towards the door and slowly opened it. While Jack was watching North carefully, he was not expecting the cage door to squeak and creek. Jack froze.

The room was dead silent.

He slowly looked over at Tooth and saw her watching him, her mouth gaped open.

"What are you-?"

Jack quickly bolted over, covering her mouth with his hand.

"Shh," he shushed. The baby tooth in Tooth's lap squeaked. Jack grabbed the fairy in his hand, silencing her with a strong grip.

Tooth tried talking against Jack's hand, her eyes wide and her head shaking.

"Shh," Jack shushed more forcefully, keeping himself quiet. "I need a favor."

* * *

Dragging Tooth and Baby Tooth along on his mission was more difficult than he imagined. Keeping himself hidden along with the little pest and rhw walking spotlight was almost impossible. Lucky for him, Tooth knew exactly where his staff was. Unlucky for him, it was in the worst place imaginable.

The Warren.

Worst of all, he wasn't sure if that was where Bunny was or if he was still in the workshop. Then idea struck Jack. If North wakes up to find Jack and Tooth missing, all hell will break loose. However, if Jack was "there", in the cage, North will simply call the next shift, Bunny. Bunny will be in the workshop and Jack will be free to skip around the Warren as he pleased without worrying about Bunny discovering him. He had to be in two places at once though, and once again with his luck, Tooth was just his size.

Jack quickly managed to get him and the two others into North's private workshop. He couldn't help but feel like it was miracle from the moon itself that they made it here undetected. Tooth watched curiously but silently as Jack grabbed a snow globe from North's office. He looked it over, inspecting it. It was indeed the snow globe North used to travel, he asked Tooth and Tooth nodded slowly. With phase one complete, he pushed Tooth back outside.

Jack quickly ushered Tooth back into the globe room. They were spotted once there unfortunately. Jack hid quickly and Tooth sweet-talked the yeti into finding Bunny for his turn to guard. Jack praised Tooth for her quick thinking, but Tooth only looked down in shame. In the globe room, North was still sleeping, thankfully. Jack tore off his hoodie and tossed it at Tooth. His old colonial clothing was still underneath. Baby Tooth and the snow globe where still held in his hands.

"Put it on," he demanded. Tooth frowned by obligated. She put on the hoodie, carefully pushing her dead wings underneath and stared at Jack, worried but curious. He stared at her for a moment before pulling the hood up, carefully arranging her feathers so they weren't pressured against the hood. The hood looked awkward, and Jack knew this was going to be more difficult than he thought.

Jack pushed Tooth gently and quietly into the cage. "Tuck your legs under it." Tooth nodded and brought her knee to her chest, pulling the hoodie over them. Jack took a step back and looked her over. _This was not going to work. _Tooth's feather crown barely fit under the hood and her wings were showing from under the hoodie, laying flat on the ground.

"Turn around." Tooth turned so her back was to North and Jack. Jack grabbed a blanket from the fireplace and placed it around her waist, covering her wings. He looked over her again. _Better, I guess. _

_ This isn't going to work. _

Jack couldn't help but agree with his annoying inner self. "Just try to… not move," he said hesitantly. "I trust you with this Tooth."

Tooth looked over her shoulder sadly, looking at Baby Tooth still gripped in Jack's hand.

"Just don't hurt her," she cried out quietly.

"She'll be at the Warren waiting for you," Jack explained. "If Bunny arrives sooner than I need him too, I'll know you went back on our deal. And I'm sure you're aware of the consequences." Jack tightened his grip, earning a squeak from Baby Tooth to prove his point. Tooth nodded and turned back around, taking a deep breath.

"Be careful, Jack."

"You know I am," he mumbled.

Tooth kept her head titled up, making sure her crown won't point up and ruin the disguise. Jack looked at her once more. He glanced at North as well, who appeared to becoming restless from his short nap. He'll be waking soon.

"You be careful too," Jack said quickly. He jumped over the railing surrounding the globe and landed quietly below.

He quickly hid behind a pillar, the workshop on the other side. He looked at the windows in front of him carefully, looking over the lock and hinges. They should open. Jack felt odd without his hoodie. His white button down and small vest didn't help but remind him of the memories of him be alone for centuries, but it provided him with motivation as well. Once he returns to Pitch, he'll never be alone again.

**Oh, Pitch, where art thou? You seriously need to get thy booth here-th, bro. "Pitch is not here at the moment, he's too busy fending off Sandy's dream sand and protecting his Nightmares. Please leave a message after the beep. Beeeeeep."**

**I like to refer this chapter as... Chapter 7: The Disappointment and the Impossible. **

**I know Tooth's feather crown thing won't fit in a hood, but use you're imagination. Jack isn't the most clever guy. It'll work for the mean time and Jack will be able to do his thing. **

**"Why is there a blanket by the fireplace?" Obviously, you're very smart on fire safety. Don't question North's decorating skills. **

**"Guardians can't sleep!" Yes they can go watch the movie again stop questioning everything!**

**"How DID Jack get to North's private workshop with Tooth and Baby Tooth?" Magic. And lots of it. **

**"Jack's dumb when it comes to escape ideas." Well, excuse me, Miss. I've obviously been caged in North's workshop and had a successful escape. **

**Next chapter: Will Jack be able to find his staff? Will Tooth's FLAWLESS disguise trick Bunny and North? Should Rebeckajane switch point of views so not everything is so confusing? Where has Pitch been this whole time? ****What will become of the Sandman?**

**See you again in CHAPTER 8, where everything is possible and clearly logical. :)**

**(Little update: Also, today is a _veeeeery _special day for us ROTGers. Expect a nice, little surprise later this evening ;))**


	8. Chapter 8: Surprise!

**Surprise! In honor of this day, the day before Easter, AKA, the day Sandy dies, I present to youuuuu... THIS. **

**WARNING: This chapter may contain a large amount of typos. Like all the others. **

**Without further delay, I present to you: chapter 8: THE OOPS. **

**Enjoy! :) **

It seemed like an eternity has passed since Jack had jumped from the Globe room. He had been hidden below for several agonizing minutes, and his impatient is tugging at him. He wanted to go to the Warren, get his staff, and leave to find Pitch.

Unfortunately for Pitch, Jack was pissed at him. Pitch promised Jack that he would rescue him, play the knight and shinning armor while Jack portrayed the damsel in distress. This damsel in distress however, was done being the weak princess, waiting to be rescued. He was doing this his way and Pitch was going to get a smack down once he has returned to the lair.

A noise from above caught Jack's attention, a noise that sounded suspiciously like Bunny yelling at North to wake up. A chair clattered on the ground and Jack rolled his eyes. No doubt North's shock of being rudely wakened had him knocking himself out of the chair. Words were difficult to hear between the two, but Jack caught on a few, such as "asleep", "dumb", "Jack" and "escape". Jack hoped "dumb" and his name weren't connected.

"Tooth!" North shouted, shaking the walls form his booming voice.

Jack held his breath. Hopefully they'll only think Tooth has gone for a walk, and will return. The baby tooth chirped quietly in his hand.

"Shh," Jack whispered. The baby tooth sunk deeper in Jack's palm, silencing herself.

Loud footsteps where heard from the stairs around the corner. North was retreating to the bottom of the workshop. Which meant…. Jack grinned. Bunny was upstairs with Tooth.

Jack ducked to the window, opening the latch and quickly jumping out into the snow. He welcomed the feeling of the snow between his toes and the breath of fresh air. The wind circled around him playfully and Jack chuckled.

"Not now," he whispered at it. The wind circled around him again before blowing off into another direction, taking snow with it.

Jack observed the snow globe in his hand and whispered at it, "The Warren." He tossed the snow globe on the ground. It bounced a couple times before opening the shining light of the portal. Jack could trace the outlines of bushes and creeks in the Warren. He placed the baby tooth on his shoulder. She griped onto his neck with her tiny hands and Jack quickly jumped into the portal.

Jack landed roughly in the grass, almost losing his footing. He looked around the spring filled field, disgusted by the amount of colors and the bright light it possessed.

Although, the crushed eggs that were still scattered about was a nice touch.

_Now, to find my staff. _Jack kept Baby Tooth on his shoulder while he searched for his only. Jack knew Bunny wasn't dumb enough to leave it in the open like North, but he also knew he wasn't dumb enough to hide it in a bush. Baby Tooth chirped in his ear and tugged at his hair.

"What?" Jack snapped, turning his head to look at her. "What is it?"

Baby Tooth jumped on his shoulder and pointed towards the rock cliff. Jack looked at the wall of rock and noticed an odd outline. He jogged over to the rock and traced the perfectly straight light. _Very odd. _He followed the line up and it continued to the right at ninety degrees. _Is this a door?_

Jack ran his hand around the rock, searching for some type of handle to open the door. When not finding any, Jack resorted to kicking the thing. When nothing happened, he groaned.

"Stupid door."

"Are you sure that's a door?"  
Jack wouldn't admit it but he did in fact scream in surprise. He spun around, his hands flailing useless at his side. He expected Bunny or North to be scolding down at him, but instead stood tall, dark and handsome.

"Pitch!" Jack yelled. He threw his arms around the Nightmare King, rubbing his face against his chest. Baby Tooth chirped uncomfortably from Jack's shoulder. Jack pulled away and smacked Pitch on the shoulder.

"Ow," Pitch said in amusement, clearly unaffected by the hit.

"That's for abandoning me!" he yelled.

"I never abandoned you," Pitch explained softly, patting Jack's head.

Jack swatted at his hand. "Then why was I stuck in a cage for over a day?!"

Pitch grinned. "I wasn't aware you were 'caged', how interesting. Ironic, even."

Jack yelled in frustration. "Just help me find my staff so we can go."

"Oh?" Pitch grinned. "You mean this?" PHe pulled Jack's staff from behind his back, waving it the air.

Jack smiled triumphantly. "You found it!" he went to go grab it but Pitch swung it away.

"Uh-huh," he tsked.

"Pitch," Jack groaned.

Pitch gave Jack a knowing look. Jack narrowed his eyes at him.

"You have a plan…" Jack said hesitantly, worried of this newfound plan.

"I always have a plan, my dearest one."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Let's hear it."

"Go back to the pole – "

"What! No! You go back to the pole." Jack jumped to snatch away his staff. Pitch easily side stepped him.

"Jack, please listen and – " Pitch paused looking Jack over. A smile tugged at his lips. "What are you wearing?"  
"I had to use my hoodie for something else. Staff, please," Jack demanded, holding out his hand.

Pitch chuckled. "I dare not ask."

_Saves me from being laughed at. _

"Why do I need to go back to the North Pole?" Jack asked, not enjoying the idea of returning

"There are three Guardians present," Pitch explained. "Three Guardians distracted by a certain frost sprite." Pitch tapped Jack's nose with his staff. Jack didn't bother trying to grab it.

"Go on," Jack urged.

"I need you to continue distracting the Guardians while I got find Sanderson."

Jack frowned. "Does this distracting involve me being thrown back into a cage?"

"Only if you're not careful." Pitch handed Jack his staff, and Jack hesitantly took it.

"So when you say distract, you mean – "

"Do what you do best, Jack Frost."

Jack looked down at his staff, then back at Pitch. "That's it?"

"Hold them off until I return. By that time, Sanderson will be gone and one by one, the lights will begin to go out."

"You said that about Easter, yet here we are, trying to turn out the lights again," Jack teased.

"Yes, well, my plan would have worked perfectly if someone didn't get in the way." Pitch playfully pulled at Jack's cheek.

Jack recalled the moment where he sacrificed himself for Sandy. He didn't think about that moment a lot, worried that it'll provoke his battle in his mind even more. He thought about if he hadn't took the arrow for Sandy, Sandy would have vanished into nothing but Nightmare sand, Easter would have be destroyed just the same, and Pitch would have won.

"It's not going perfectly now?" Jack asked, feeling insecure. Jack was suddenly dumped on Pitch, all plans ruined and destroyed. Maybe Jack was the nuisance.

"No, no, no," Pitch cooed, grabbing onto Jack's face. "The plan is still perfect, if not better. Either way, you would still be here by my side while the Guardians whither away."

Jack couldn't meet Pitch's eyes. Pitch brought his hand down and cupped Jack's chin, pulling his head up so Pitch could meet his eyes.

"Don't worry, my prince," he whispered. "Soon it'll just be you and I."

"Pitch," Jack said quietly. "I don't think I can do it."  
"Do what?" Pitch 'sgrip tightened on his chin, his voice becoming dangerous.

"When I first escaped, I had the perfect shot to take on Bunny," Jack explained. "I could have finished him off, right there. Froze him for eternity." He took a deep breath. "I couldn't do it, Pitch. He waited for me to shoot him, he asked for it! I just… couldn't."

Pitch swiped his thumb across Jack's lips. "That will soon change."

"Will it?" Jack doubted.

"I promise."

Jack finally meet Pitch's eyes, not seeing any sign of disappointment or anger.

"You're not mad?" he asked.

Pitch shook his head. Jack couldn't help but release a sigh of relief. Pitch smiled and caressed Jack's cheek and lips once more before releasing him.

"Now," Pitch clapped his hands. "Off you go. Time is of the essence."

Jack smiled. "You can count on me."  
Pitch smiled back before his eyes moved to Baby Tooth who hid behind Jack's neck. "New friend?"

Jack shrugged. "Think she'll look nice in the cages?"

Pitch grinned. "She'll fit right in."

Pitch said his farewell and vanished without a sound. Jack stared after him, yearning for his touch. Jack brushed his fingers against his lips, but couldn't get the same touch of desire.

Jack found the snow globe where he jumped out of the portal and took a deep breath.

"Are you ready, Baby Tooth?" he asked.

Baby Tooth shook her head and glared angrily at Jack. Jack smiled at the little tooth and brought the snow globe to his lips. "The North Pole."

* * *

When Jack arrived outside of North's workshop, through the window, he could see complete and utter panic. Yetis were running around and elves were hiding under the tables. North, Bunny and Tooth were out of sight, but he assumed they were looking for him. Jack worried that they would have returned to the Warren, only to find him missing and then went to search for Sandy to insure his safety. He jumped up to the upper level and creaked open a window of the globe room to look and listen inside.

Bunny and North were pacing rapidly around Tooth, who sat with her shoulders slouched in a chair, Jack's hoodie still on her.

"How can you just let him go?" Bunny shouted.

"He threatened Baby Tooth," Tooth whispered, her voice barely heard from the open window.

"And where the bloody hell is she?" Bunny asked angrily.

"… With Jack," Tooth said slowly.

"And was he plannin' and givin' her back?" he seethed.

"He said he –"

"And you believed him?!"

"He's still Jack, Bunny!" Tooth yelled. Jack had never heard Tooth yell so angrily before. "I know you can see it too! Our Jack is still in there, so yes, I believe in him and I trust him. Just like you trusted him."  
The room was silent as Tooth glared strongly at Bunny and Bunny looked down at his feet, seeming to find words to respond but couldn't. North stood awkwardly to the side, looking uncomfortable.

"Tooth," he began. "Inside, he still may be our Jack, but on the outside, he's… Pitch's Jack, the new Jack."

"That's the point, he-!"

"Tooth," North interrupted. "That's not Jack anymore. Whatever you see or whatever he's feeling will fade. It will soon vanish and he won't ever be our Jack again."

Jack sunk down on the windowsill, not caring if he's seen. Jack knew his "good" will be vanquished and be gone forever, but he never realized how empty he'll feel without it. Seeing the Guardians being upset over this upset him more than it should. Ignoring these thoughts, he pushed down his feelings and spoke.

"Well, well." All eyes turned to him in surprise. "Isn't this picture just _heartbreaking._"

He jumped from the window and landed casually in by the globe. He leaned against the railing, making himself look calm and confident.

"That is really a great look on you, Toothy," Jack swooned. "Where'd you get it?"

"Jack!" Bunny yelled, taking out his boomerang.

"Hey, easy now." Jack raised his hands defensively. "I'm not here to fight. Although, it's looking _very _tempting now."

"Where's Baby Tooth?" Tooth asked nervously, standing from the chair.

Jack slowly reaching behind his neck, making sure not to startle Bunny, and let Baby Tooth hop into his hand. "Tada." He showed every the little tooth.

Tooth grinned and went to take a step. Jack pulled Baby Tooth close to him, making Tooth freeze.

"Ah, careful now." Jack waved a finger in front of Baby Tooth. "I may just nip at her nose."

His threat was clear. Don't move, or else he'll freeze Baby Tooth. Tooth stepped back silently, her hands fiddling anxiously and worriedly.

"What do you want, Jack?" North asked. His voice was strong, but careful.

Jack smiled. "What do I want, you ask? I want many things. I want it to snow every day, I want the earth to be covered in my ice, I want to believed in, feared it. I also want to swim in the ocean, maybe adopt a dog. They're so much fun!"

"What do you want _from us?_" Bunny asked.

"That's a whole new list!" Jack laughed. "But what I really want most of all is for you, Bunny, to throw your boomerang in the fireplace because I am growing _very _tired of you threatening me with it."

Bunny's shocked expression was almost enough payment for Baby Tooth. Jack smirked. "Tick, tock, tick, tock." He spun his finger around Baby Tooth's head. Baby Tooth squeaked quietly and shook her head at Bunny.

Bunny took a deep breath, staring down at his boomerang with a strong expression. "I'll throw it outside, but I'm not burning it."  
Jack sighed, showing his impatience. "Fine, but I want something else in return."

Bunny stiffened. "Like what?"

"Let's see…." Jack looked over at Tooth observing her fearful expression. He moved his head towards North who was watching Jack carefully, his head high and his sabers out at the ready. Jack stepped away form the railing, walking closer towards the three. "I want North in the cage."

Tooth sputtered a laugh. Even Bunny cracked a smile. North just looked dumbfounded.

"Alright, mate." Bunny looked over North. "Go ahead, North. Get comfy." Jack noticed the knowing look that passed between the two. _Perfect. _

North walked over to the cage. He sheathed his sabers back in their holders on his back and he stepped into the cage. North barely fit. It was just as funny as Jack imagined.

"Go on, close the door," he demanded lightly.

North sighed, reached out and shut the door. Bunny laughed. Jack smirked before walking over to the cage.

"And we lock this." Jack tapped his staff to the cage, freezing the door completely shut. North quickly tried to reach out to break the cage door open. It wouldn't budge. "Oh, I knew there was no lock on the door," Jack explained at him. He turned back to Bunny. "And this." He swung his staff hard and hit the boomerang out of Bunny's hands. The boomerang landed in the fire. Bunny screeched and raced for it. "And this." Jack carefully dropped Baby Tooth in Tooth's hands.

"A deal's a deal." Jack winked at Tooth before turning back to Bunny.

Bunny was trying to get his boomerang out of the fire with a poker. When the boomerang was finally free of the flames. Bunny squatted down and poked at it. It broke cleanly in half. Jack grinned.

"My aim was always a little bit off," he said innocently.

Bunny growled, standing and turning to Jack. "You!"

Jack grinned and stepped away from Bunny who was shaking with anger.

"I really wish I had a camera right now," Jack said. "North is in a cage, you're weaponless and Tooth is as useless as ever." Tooth glared at Jack, holding Baby Tooth protectively in her hands. "And Sandy is already out of the picture, so it's almost as if-"

An explosion from the upper windows had Jack tumbling forwards a bit and the Guardians covering their heads. Sandy burst from above, his whips out and his shoulders breathing heavily. Jack stared in horror. Where was Pitch?!

As if being called, Pitch appeared behind Sandy, a wave of Nightmares and black clouds following his presence. Sandy spun back around, already swinging his whips at those who jumped out Pitch's line of attack. Pitch only watched, clearly amused.

"I never would have expected you as the runner, Sanderson," he laughed. "Are you really that defenseless alone?"

North shouted Sandy's name, catching the two's attention. Jack saw Pitch fighting a smile at North's predicament. His eyes moved to Tooth. This time, the tiger grin appeared full on. When spotting Bunny weaponless, Pitch's laughter cracked into the sky.

"Jack!" Pitch laughed. "You lovely prince, come here."

Jack gladly flew up to Pitch, passing Sandy and ignoring his bewildered stare. When Jack reached Pitch, Pitch grabbed his hand and pulled him into his cloud. Jack stood close to Pitch, Pitch's arm wrapped around him tightly as he lightly clawed at his neck.

"You exceeded my expectations," he murmured.

Jack could only smile and shrug.

Pitch rubbed his nose again Jack's cheek. "Good boy." He turned back to the Guardians, his nails still tickling Jack's neck. "Now, where was I?"

Jack looked down below, staring at the four Guardians, all at a loss of what to do. Tooth could no longer fly, which meant she was useless. North was securely locked in a small cage. Bunny was completely weaponless, but can still most likely throw a good punch. Sandy was the only Guardian that looked well prepared for a fight.

"Ah, yes," Pitch finished, snapping his fingers, as if he had forgotten his mission. "I was about to destroy the Sandman."

At that moment, all Nightmares plummeted towards Sandy. Sandy's eyes widened and he cracked his whip.

"Why don't you go entertain our other guests?" Pitch whispered in Jack's ear. "I'm sure they'll love to spend some quality time with you."

Jack nodded, he leaned completely into Pitch for a moment, rubbing his face against his neck before untangling himself from Pitch's hold. Pitch watched with a smile as Jack jumped from the cloud and flew down.

Jack sent a small wave of frost at Sandy, freezing one of his whips before continuing his adventure down. That distraction will help aid Pitch's attack on him. Jack landed on the ground in time for Bunny to strike at Jack with the poker from the fireplace. Jack easily swung his staff up, blocking the attack.

"Bunny, be careful!" North yelled from the cage.

Jack quickly looked over in time to see Tooth desperately trying to break the ice with one of North's swords.

"One step ahead of ya', mate!"

Jack turned back to Bunny to see him charging at him, poker high in the air. Jack yelped in surprised and managed to block it again. When the poker hit the staff, Jack sent a surge of frost through it, freezing the poker solid. The slick ice made Bunny drop the poker.

"Oops," Jack said, smiling cheerfully at Bunny.

While Jack was laughing, Bunny threw back his arm and punched Jack. Jack fell back from the force. The punch didn't necessarily hurt (actually, it hurt quite a bit), so Jack quickly stood back up to be face to face with Tooth.

"Ah, Tooth," he greeted. "Just the lady I needed to see. I would like my hoodie ba-"

Tooth brought the sword from behind her and pointed it at Jack.

"Back," Jack finished quietly. When did Tooth have swordsmen skills?

Tooth swung the sword back and flung it towards Jack. Jack quickly protected himself with his staff and became increasingly worried when the wood split from the blade of the sword. _This will not end will. _Tooth twisted her sword under Jack's and pushed it up, Jack's staff flew from his hands and spun in the air before crashing down near the empty cage-

_Wait, empty?_

A strong mass crashed into Jack and Jack fell roughly to the ground. North stomped angrily towards Jack, a sword in one hand. Tooth followed as well, the other sword gripped tightly in her palm. Bunny was there was well, his fists clenched and ready to start swinging.

Jack laughed nervously from the ground. "Pitch!" he called out.

"Busy!" he heard back.

The Guardians came closer. North raised his sword

"Pitch!" he screamed.

"One moment!"

"Help!" Jack screamed louder.

The sword came swinging down at Jack, and Jack brought his hands up to defend himself. His arms were quickly grabbed by Bunny and Tooth and they brought them over his head. He kicked his feet at North who had his sword pointed dangerously close to Jack's neck.

"Pitch, I am dire need of help!" he yelled. "Your assistance is needed!"

A whip of black sand grabbed onto North's sword. At the touch, the sword turned black and a dark aura wrapped around it. North dropped the sword in surprise, which had the tip cutting slightly into Jack's neck. Jack gasped at the pain and the sword was pulled back towards the source.

Jack titled his back in time to see the nightmare sword flying towards Sandy, hitting him in the back.

Everything seemed frozen, as if the pause button was pushed. Jack's arms were dropped, and he couldn't help but begin to laugh, watching as Sandy fell on his knees, grasping his chest as the darkness spread from the stab.

"No!" Bunny yelled.

Tooth cried out and North was dead silent, watching in horror as his old friend was consumed by darkness.

Jack couldn't stop laughing. Blood trickled from the wound in his neck but he couldn't stop. His face ached, his arms hurt and his heart was pounding but he still laughed. Pitch grinned from his cloud high above, watching as fear consumed the Guardian of Dreams.

Jack's laughter soon stopped when a drop of water fell on his cheek. Tooth who stood above him, was crying. The drop of water was her tear. Then it sunk it.

Pitch killed Sandy. Sandy was gone. The Sandman no longer existed. The only chance the Guardian's had of winning back their belief, _vanished. _

Jack's laughter soon turned to sobs, as he couldn't help but cry for the little man. Both eyes were streaming tears and Jack couldn't stop them. A painful tug appeared in his heart and he cried out in pain, clutching at his shirt. The cries of sorrow soon turned to cries of pain at the loss of the Guardian of Dreams. A friend. His believer.

Jack became empty because of this feeling. He longer held the hope he had, the confidence he felt of his and Pitch's plan of defeating the Guardians. A sob rocked through Jack's body and his gripped tighter at his chest.

Jack watched as Sandy stood tall for his final moment. He stared up at Pitch, and Pitch stared back, grinning at his victory.

"Good bye, Sandman."

**Oops, I killed Sandy. **

**Oops, I made Jack cry again. **

**Oops, let's pretend Bunny has only one boomerang and not two. **

**OOPS, I ALMOST HAD PITCH KISS JACK. **

**And oops, typos everywhere and awkward sentences, I'm sorry. **

**Possible questions:**

**"Was that really a door in the Warren?" ... Maybe. Maybe not. It could have been a carving? Or a door?**

**"'Sup with Baby Tooth trying to help Jack then her hating him?" She loves Jack, let's face it. Swoonami attack. With all the finish swooning by. She tries to help, but was reminded by Pitch that Jack wasn't sided with her anymore. So she became angry... Like Tinkerbell. **

**"I thought Jack was going to throw her in the cages with the others?" Jack loves her back. Besides, you can't break deals. Nuh-huh. No you can't! **

**"How did North escape from the IMPOSSIBLE frozen shut door?" :O**

**"With Tooth - " In the books, the Tooth Fairy wields swords as her weapon. In the movie, she uses her wings. I combined both. **

**"Why is Jack's 'caged' situation ironic?" Go read Pitch's back story. **

**Sorry for the long AU. I ramble a lot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter (two in one day, YOU'RE WELCOME) and I'll see you in chapter 9! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I almost pulled a April Fool's joke on you guys. Consider yourselves lucky!**

**If you have the best beta in the world clap your hands! *claps hands* So I have a beta(fish) now! skulledRenaissance has taken on the difficult and nearly impossible task of fixing my grammatical errors and awkward wording and... stuff. Thank you, skulledRenny, for being amerzing.**

**(small update: someone corrected and reminded me about Jack's memories. Oops. I fixed the mistake.)**

**Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... CHAPTER 9. **

Everything was a blur, unfocused. People and objects around were nothing but masses of colors that were spinning out of control. It hurt to watch, to see these blobs of color panic overhead. They moved around rapidly, their voices degraded to nothing but muffled noises, as if a cloth has been wrapped around their mouths, yet they still tried to speak. They yelled, they cried, they screamed.

Jack couldn't understand. He lied on the ground, still as could be, staring up at the ceiling in silence. Tooth was hovering over him, her hands giving ghostly touches on his face, on his neck and on his chest. The touches were overwhelming. They left an uncomfortable burning sensations but Jack couldn't bring himself to push her hands away. He barely had the energy to breathe.

He blinked several times, trying to refocus his vision, but everything continued to be a blur. Jack wondered if he was hit in the eye during his fight, but with this effect, it didn't seem likely.

He strained his hearing instead, trying to pick up words in jumbled sentences. They were still muffled, but were becoming clearer by the second. When they did become clear, he wished he wasn't able to hear anymore.

"Jack, we need to leave!"

"What happened to him?"

"Leave Jack, we need to go _now._"

"We can't."

And of course, behind the panicked voices of the Guardians was Pttch's cackle. His laughter shook the air and Jack became aware of the nightmare sand crawling on the walls and spinning around the room.

"Oh, don't fret, Guardians," Pitch laughed. "We will leave soon enough. You can watch the globe as every single light vanishes!"

Jack assumed this was his cue to sit up and go to Pitch, but he still couldn't find his strength. He tried to lift his head but it strained his neck and made his body ache all over again.

"Come along, Jack," Pitch called.

Jack braced his hands on the ground and rolled onto his side. He groaned as his body screamed in protest, wanting him to lie back down. Tooth's hands were pressing onto his back, leaving the burning touches. Jack ignored the gesture and got himself onto his knees, taking a deep breath as he stared at the ground. He propped one leg up and leaned his arms against his thigh. Tooth's hands moved to grasp his shoulders, intending to help him up, he assumed. Jack hit her hand away.

"Don't touch me," he snapped.

Tooth immediately retreated. Jack finally managed to stand, wobbling on his feet. He straightened himself up, looking up to see Pitch smiling smugly down on him. Jack felt irritated that Pitch was taking enjoyment of watching Jack struggle to do something as simple as stand.

Jack ignored the stares of the Guardians, who looked at him desperately and helplessly, as he walked across the room to retrieve his staff. Jack was wondering why the Guardians weren't attacking. They were staying still and their weapons were dropped to the floor. Jack looked around the room, observing the nightmare sand that lashed out at the Guardians occasionally. The dark, dusty substance was slowly closing in on them, forming a tight perimeter around them.

He sighed, not feeling sorry for the trapped and threatened Guardians. He reached down and picked up his staff, noticing a mark where Tooth's sword had hit it. Jack frowned at it, skimming his fingers over it. What if his staff broke? What would happen to him? What would he do? He assumed Pitch would leave him, deeming him useless and throwing him into the darkness.

"Jack," Pitch called again cheerfully.

Jack looked over his shoulder, seeing Pitch grinning at him and gesturing him over onto his cloud. Jack shot a look at the Guardians, seeing them now back to back as the Nightmares were getting closer and closer. Jack still felt no remorse.

He jumped into the air with his staff in hand, flying through the nightmare sand, which clung to him and followed as he passed through it. Once landed on Pitch's cloud, Jack was immediately wrapped in his arms.

"Let's go home," he said.

Jack only nodded, staring at the three Guardians that remained. Three…. Jack's heart tugged painfully at the loss of Sandy. His mind was screaming and his body felt like shutting down, but he had to continue. He had to stand strong. Pitch's arm tightened around Jack before he had them both absorb into the darkness.

Traveling through the shadows was not what Jack had expected. He couldn't find his footing and he clung to Pitch fearfully, afraid that if he let go, he'll be lost in the shadows forever. Pitch held him tighter against him, his hand digging into Jack's shoulder.

Once settled back on the ground, Jack stumbled out of the shadows, gripping his head as a massive ache began to grow. Everything hurt, and Jack's breath shook as a roll of sorrow hit him along with the pain in his head.

Pitch's arm returned around Jack, and Jack felt himself being gently pulled forward. Keeping his eyes closed, he let Pitch guide him. He felt the familiar snow hit his toes, and the air was crisped and cold. Jack opened his eyes to see his room, still every inch covered in show or ice. Pitch tugged Jack forward again, pulling him into the bed.

"Rest, Jack," Pitch said gently.

Jack shook his head, sitting on the bed. "I don't need rest."  
Pitch sighed. "Just for a bit. Then you can-"

"I don't need rest!" he snapped. The action caused his ears to ring and his headache to pound painfully. Jack moaned quietly at the ache and covered his eyes again, rubbing them harshly.

Jack's hands were pulled from his face and he looked up at Pitch, seeing him staring down on him. "What's wrong?

Jack hesitated. He wanted to tell Pitch. He wanted Pitch to reassure him everything will turn out their way, and that all of this is only temporary. He simply wanted someone to talk to, to share the pain he felt and the despair he held. A hole was in his heart and he missed Sandy terribly… but, at the same time, he didn't _miss _him. He was confused. He was glad Sandy was gone, but he felt so distraught over the loss. He couldn't decide what he wanted anymore.

"Nothing," Jack finally said.

Pitch was quiet, Jack's hands still in his own. "Are you sure?"

Jack pulled his hands away. "Of course, why would anything be wrong?" he asked bitterly.

"All right."

Jack knew Pitch didn't believe him for a second, but he still turned away and walked towards the door. Jack panicked. He didn't want to be alone. He didn't want Pitch to leave him in the darkness by himself to drown in his sorrows – he wanted Pitch to stay.

"Wait!" Jack yelled.

Pitch stopped, the door already half open. The room was quiet, and Jack realized Pitch was waiting for him to say something.

"I don't want to be alone," Jack mumbled nervously.

He hated showing weakness in front of Pitch, especially since Pitch expected so much from Jack now that Sandy was gone. They had a world to build, and Pitch didn't have time to console an emotional teenager.

But Pitch did close the door and turn back to Jack, understanding in his features. Jack sighed in relief, watching as Pitch walked closer to him and sat on the bed nearby. Jack curled his knees to his chest, pulling them closer to him, watching Pitch sit there, staring into darkness.

"How did you become the Nightmare King?" Jack asked, trying to keep his mind off Sandy.

Pitch finally looked at Jack, his eyes glowing gold in the darkness. "That's a story for another day, Jack."

Jack wanted to press for information, to know every detail of Pitch but he respected the request and buried his head in his knees.

"Now what?" he asked after several minutes of complete silence.

Pitch was playing with the snow he sat on, letting it sprinkle to the ground from his hand. "We wait."  
Jack groaned. He despised waiting. Pitch chuckled quietly.

"Patience, Jack," he soothed. "There's no need to rush."

Jack nodded against his knees and sighed. _Right, no rush. Now that Sandy is – _

His breath caught in his throat and he tensed up. His heart tugged painfully again and the headache delivered a sharp pain behind his eyes. A hand appeared on his head and he turned to see Pitch staring at him with worry.

"Tell me," he said.

"I just…" Jack stopped himself. "Don't worry about it. It won't last long."

"True," Pitch paused, appearing to think. "But for the amount of time it will last, I don't want you to suffer through it."

_Suffering. What an understatement. _Jack turned his head away. "Talking about it will just make it worse."

"Will it?" he asked.

Jack knew talking would help, he just didn't want too. He wanted Pitch to see him as strong and independent. Someone who can go through anything and not even bat an eyelash at something like death. Pitch made it look easy.

"I miss him," Jack confessed. "Sandy. I can't help it. I don't understand it! I want him gone, so we can have our world, to have our belief, but now that he is gone…"  
"You regret it."

Jack didn't know how to respond. Did he regret it? Yes. Did he want Sandy back? … No.

"There's always something that needs to be sacrificed, right?" he asked. "Nothing comes easy."

"No, it doesn't," Pitch agreed. "It's okay to feel sad, Jack. You can regret it, but I can see that you know it was necessary. It was either us, or him."  
Jack moved his eyes back to Pitch. "Everything's going to get better, right?"

Pitch smiled. "Of course."

The next few days was a waiting game. Pitch did want to go out though, instead of waiting, and vanquish every light out there. "Too easy," he had said, changing his mind. He liked the idea of the Guardians watching helplessly as each light, one by one, slowly went out. He wanted to prolong his victory as much as possible.

Jack spent most of his time watching the globe with Pitch, seeing each individual light go out, slowly but surely. With Easter ruined, the Sandman gone and the teeth collecting dust under pillows, the belief was disappearing.

The short time Jack was locked up, Sandy had gone out and brought most of the belief back. Pitch explained to Jack that he had followed Sandy, spreading fear where the former spread dreams and belief. Unfortunately, Sandy's sand was stronger, and the belief overtook the fear, causing the number of believers to rise up.

With the numbers slowly falling, the heartache in Jack began to disappear. He had moments though, where a wave of anguish would hit him. He would fall to his knees and choke on his sobs. The Guardian side of Jack was falling to pieces, and the Nightmare Prince was suffering because of it. Pitch was always there when these moments happened. Jack would cry uncontrollably on Pitch, and he would simply hold him until it passed.

With the Guardians declared useless, Pitch didn't have to work as hard to spread Nightmares. His Nightmares were strong, very strong. They didn't need his constant guide and instructions to know what to do. Because of this, Pitch spent more time around the lair, only going out to supervise the progress. Jack was thankful for this.

Since Jack was cooped up in the lair again, it was only natural for the place to be covered in frost and snow. Especially with Jack's breakdowns, heavy amounts of snow appeared from the thin air and the lair's temperature would fall to a beautiful zero degrees. Pitch didn't mind at first, but that was until he walked into his library.

"Jack!" he yelled.

Jack shot up from Pitch's reading chair, startled. He had fallen asleep while trying to read one of Pitch's books, and had unconsciously begun to spread frost from the chair to the bookshelves. A good third of Pitch's books were layered and encased with a healthy amount of ice.

Jack laughed nervously, noticing the situation he caused. "Uh… Oops?"

Pitch growled, picking up a book from the ground. He glared at the block of ice before letting it fall to the floor. The ice didn't even crack. Jack sunk lower into the chair, hiding his face with his own block of paper and frozen water.

Pitched sighed. "What are you doing?"

"Reading," he murmured.

"Reading what?"

Jack heard Pitch's footsteps coming closer. He peeked over the frozen book. Pitch stood directly in front of him, towering over.

"Uh." Jack wasn't sure what he was reading honestly. He had been staring at a single page for so long, he had thrown the book in anger to only pick up another one, falling asleep as he concentrated hard on a particular word.

"Jack, do you know how to read?"

Jack gaped at Pitch. "Of course I know how to read! My mum taught me when I was young!"

"Which was three hundred years ago," Pitch reminded.

"Well, yeah…" Jack stuttered over his words. "But I can still read!"

"Really? Why don't you give me a demonstration then? If you're so good at reading, read one sentence aloud," Pitch asked, stepping away from Jack to retrieve another frozen book from the ground.

Jack set down the frozen book he was holding and picked up a lucky, non-frozen one from the end table. He opened the cover, letting the book flip automatically to the first page. He stared down at the words.

"Well, go on," Pitch encouraged, continuing to pick up the frozen books.

"… I can't with this one!" Jack declared. "It's written in like, Russian, or something."

Pitch walked back over, setting his books on the table before taking Jack's. "Jack, this is English."

Jack immediately took the book back, staring back the words. "This is not English!"

Pitch grinned playfully. "You don't know how to read then."

Jack was offended. He can read! When he first became Jack Frost, he would occupy his time reading over children's shoulders as they flipped through the pages, or by merely picking up a book himself. Eventually though, he lost interest in reading and focused more on his duties as the winter sprite, but he has read before!

However, that _was _three hundred years ago and Jack hasn't read since…. Actually, he can't even remember the last he had to read something. Pitch noticed Jack's realization and he couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny!" Jack yelled, throwing the book at Pitch. Pitch let it hit him while he continued to laugh.

"The great Jack Frost can't do something as simple as read a book? Shame," he mocked.

Jack growled at him. He stood up, shoving Pitch aside and stomped angrily out the door. Jack knew Pitch would follow, and he soon found himself being trailed by him.

"Jack," Pitch called. Jack was suddenly yanked back by his arm.

He glared at Pitch. "What?"

Pitch said nothing but pull at Jack's arm again. Jack groaned and followed him back to the library. He watched from the doorway as Pitch trailed his fingers on the spines of the books, seeming to be looking for something. When he finally pulled out a book, which was miraculously not frozen, he gestured Jack over.

Pitch sat in his chair, book in hand, and Jack stood in front of him, staring at the small, thin book. His hand was grabbed and he was pulled down into Pitch's lap. Jack rolled his eyes at the close proximity Pitch enjoyed so much and craved for, and obeyed by curling himself up against him. Pitch wrapped his arm around Jack, letting him lean against it, and then brought out his other arm, dropping the book in Jack's lap. Jack picked up the book, staring at the cover. The picture was very worn and difficult to see, along with the title that was smudged.

"Read to me," Pitch asked.

"I can't read," Jack mumbled, setting the book back down on his lap.

"Try."

Jack rolled his eyes opened the book. The inside of the book was worn as well, but the words were clear, as if traced over by pen over the decades. But like before, the words were a jumbled mess of lines, and the words were large and only a few were presented on each page.

"Is this a kid book?" Jack asked, offended.

"Read, Jack," Pitch demanded.

"I can't – "

"Try," he repeated.

Jack glared at him. He settled more comfortably into Pitch's lap, staring at the words carefully. They were simpler, as predicted, and he was able to sound them out but sloppily. Pitch always corrected him when needed though.

"…. Is that an 'A"?" Jack asked.

"Yes," Pitch answered.

"So, 'ah'?"

"It's singular right there, so it just simply sounds like 'A'," he explained.

"Oh, sure. Right, lets make everything _more_ confusing," Jack mumbled, continuing on with the story.

Re-learning to read was difficult, much more difficult than Jack imagined. He was frustrated with himself, and embarrassed at his lack of ability when doing so. Pitch was patient though. He never raised his voice or scowled Jack for mispronouncing a word.

Halfway through the book, Jack's brain was recalling the sounds of each letter. He still fumbled, but was able to read a full sentence without the help of Pitch. When he finished the book, he couldn't decide if he was happy that he was able to read it and accomplish this goal, or to be sad that he had to stop.

Pitch rubbed Jack's back, congratulating him. Jack, embarrassed by this gesture, knocked Pitch on the head gently with the book.

"I didn't even know why you own a children's book," he teased.

Pitch smiled. "Family heirloom."

Jack was tempted to ask more about the book, and this "family", but he resisted the urge. Pitch avoided the question before, he'd probably get the same response as before, and Jack didn't want to ruin the mood.

"Got anymore?" he asked, settling for that quizzical answer instead.

Pitch pointed to one of the lower shelves of the bookcase. Jack jumped form Pitch's lap, running to where he pointed.

"Any requests?" Jack asked jokingly.

"Anything is fine with me, Jack."

Jack decided to choose a fairytale, or at least a book that seemed to resemble a fairytale from what the cover showed.

"I noticed you have some recent ones," Jack explained, sitting back in Pitch's lap. "Anything you would like the share, hm?"

Pitch continued to smile. "Call it a habit."

"Whatever," Jack laughed. "You probably steal them from kids while they're sleeping."  
Pitch shrugged idly and Jack rolled eyes his, opening the book.

"Cinderella, Jack?" Pitch teased, resting his chin on Jack's shoulder. "Never would have considered you a romantic."

"Oh, shush." Jack elbowed his stomach. "You didn't have any request so I took the liberty of choosing one that I thought you would enjoy the most."

"So, you chose a fairytale."

"You own it, therefore you must like it," he pointed out. Jack: 1. Pitch: 0.

Pitch only glared back playfully before looking down at the book. Jack began reading at that, becoming more confident as he got further along in the story. Pitch would still have to occasionally correct him on a word or two, but the Boogeyman mostly kept silent and let Jack correct himself as he stumbled over words.

Having never before reading Cinderella, or any type of fairytale for that matter, Jack absolutely fell in love with the story. He had seen kids dress up as the princess for Halloween, and overheard conversations about the different princesses that there were. Jack understood why they loved them now. He was hypnotized by the simple love story and tragedy that had taken place before it. The plot was childish and seemed extremely unlikely, but he couldn't help but love how the story flowed together. He was so engrossed in the book, he had forgotten that Pitch was behind him, so close that he could feel Pitch's breath on his neck. There was a slight in Jack's shoulder, due to having Pitch's chin digging into it the entire time. He paid little to that fact.

When the book ended, Jack could easily remember every sound and letter of the alphabet. His mind was refreshed from his past reading experiences. He felt so confident with his reading, he couldn't wait to read more.

"Can we read one more?" he asked, hoping lighting up his features.

"Maybe tomorrow," Pitch said, leaning away from Jack to sit against the chair.

Jack followed his movement and curled up tighter in his lap. "Pleeeeeeeeease?"

Pitch sighed. "Fine. One more."

One more turned out to be five more, but Jack couldn't stop the grin he had when his reading became flawless. Pitch even offered one of his books, which Jack immediately closed after only a few sentences.

"Boring!" he had said mockingly.

"Too advanced for a beginner? Or do only fairytales satisfy your reading urge?" Pitch teased.

"… It's still boring."

Jack just finished his fifth book when Pitch had enough.

"No more books," he demanded.

Jack whined. "Come on! One more, I promise!"

"No, Jack."

"Okay, half a book!"

"No."

"One page."

"No.

"The title."

"No."

"I'll read one of your books."  
"No."

Jack fell silent, pouting at Pitch. Pitch only stared at him with an amused expression, not falling for the "puppy eyes".  
"Pleeeeeeease?" he begged.

"Here's an idea," Pitch began to suggest. Jack perked up. "Let's go read the globe."

Jack fell against Pitch sadly. "I wanna read a book!"

"Then you can read to yourself because I have work to do," he explained, quirking an eyebrow at Jack's tantrum.

"No, you don't," Jack mock-cried against Pitch's shoulder. "You just don't want to listen to me read anymore."  
Jack could hear Pitch rolling his eyes at his pathetic act. "You can read to me tomorrow."

"Promise?" Jack asked.

"Promise."

Jack jumped from Pitch's lap in excitement, jumping around while cheering. Pitch watched Jack lightheartedly as he danced around the room, already picking books for tomorrow's reading. A decent pile began to grow on the table and Jack was about to run off to retrieve another book when his arm was grabbed.

"Pitch," Jack whined. "Let gooooo. I just need one more book!"

"There's already enough here, Jack," Pitch said. "Besides, soon you'll have read all the children books."

"Then we'll get some more!" Jack tugged at his arm, trying to free himself. "One more, I promise. I pinky promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. Just one more book!"

Pitch yanked Jack down, having him catch himself on the armrest so he wouldn't fall face first onto Pitch. Pitch gripped his chin, staring into Jack's eyes.

"No more books," he said softly.

Jack pouted, but nodded. Pitch smiled. "Good boy." He pulled Jack down a little ways, pressing his lips against Jack's cheek, ever so softly. Jack felt himself (ironically) freeze from the kiss. He jumped back quickly in surprise, Pitch releasing him as he did.

Jack laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Warmth began to spread to his face and he couldn't meet Pitch's eyes, but he knew the taller man was grinning.

"Uhm, I – Let's, uh, go check on the globe, yeah?" Jack said, clearly embarrassed from the small kiss.

Pitch, who was indeed grinning, stood from the chair and walked to the door, passing by Jack without a single glance or touch.

"Then let us be on our way."

Jack stared after Pitch, watching him disappear into the darkness of the hallway. Jack couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his face as he recalled the small kiss.

**Oops. Blackice. **

**I regret nothing. (Although I am _extremely _embarrassed by it!)**

**Two things about this new fond, unofficial relationship. One, there will be no SMUT. Two, this will be... miiiiinooooor lovin'. Like, fluffy, subtle stuff. **

**A lot of people were commenting that this story was too _sad _and too _dark _and there needed to be _happiness. _**

**So what's happier than Pitch teaching Jack how to read?**

** :)**

**Cute stuff. **

**Also, if I may point out the IRONY again. The Boogeyman is teaching Jack how to read children's books, which I find hilariously ironic. **

**Possible questions!**

**Family heirloom, what? Pitch once had a little daughter, soooo, yeah. Let's pretend English existed in the Golden Age.**

**Why does Pitch have children's books? I'll explained this later! maybe. **

**"Pitch doesn't have any eyebrows, he can't - " In my book, he does. Risk of becoming the Nightmare King: loss of eyebrows. Level of likeliness: UNLIKELY. He has eyebrows. **

**Thanks for reading! I will see you in CHAPTER 10. **

**PS: skulledRenaissance is awesome. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the wait! I had a plot dilemma and needed to consult with my beta(fish). **

**Future reference: Onyx is the actual name of Pitch's righthand Nightmare. What a loser. **

**Enjoy! :)**

Jack skipped down the hall with renewed energy, feeling giddy and just overall happy. He laced his frost on the walls as he went, decorating them and secretly hoping the Nightmares will get stuck to it as they passed through the shadows. Maneuvering through the halls has become second nature. Jack had finally gotten used to the darkness and was able to adjust his vision freely to be able to see through the black veil. He had joked around with Pitch at one point, claiming he had night vision and that Pitch wouldn't be able to sneak into his room at night anymore or else he'll see him. Jack was merely kidding, but from Pitch's reaction, he had begun constantly looking around his room while present in it.

Pitch was at the globe like promised, staring intently at the lights. Jack crept from behind Pitch, hiding himself with the throne chair before jumping out, landing on Pitch's back and immediately wrapping his arms around the Nightmare King.

"Boo!" Jack yelled when landing on Pitch.

Pitch stumbled forward, slightly startled by Jack's attack.

"For being the Nightmare King, you get startled real easily," Jack teased, poking at his cheek from behind.

Pitch sighed, regaining his tall composure. "I wasn't 'startled'."

"Surprised, distracted, _scared_. Your pick." He grinned when Pitch glared over his shoulder at him.

He jumped from Pitch's back, prancing back over to the throne were he had laid his staff earlier that day. The staff came alive at his touch. The frost collected underneath his fingers on contact and black swirls began to pattern themselves against the wood.

"Only a handful left," Pitch announced.

"Really?" Jack asked excitedly. He walked back over to the globe, staring at the ten lights that remained.

"Once they are gone, we can begin spreading our belief."

Jack looked up at Pitch, smiling when seeing the happiness on his face. Jack remembered that no one has seen Pitch since the Dark Ages. Both him and Jack shared the same invisible life for centuries. Jack couldn't wait to see Pitch's expression when the first child sees him, _fears him. _He also couldn't wait for his belief. All this life, he wanted to be believed in – to be seen. Now, with only ten lights left, this goal was reachable. It was possible. It was a dream come true.

While staring at the globe, Jack expected at least one light to go out, but they all continued to shine strong. He began to grow worried.

"Will they go out?" he asked Pitch.

"Of course, we just need to patient." Despite Pitch's words, Jack had a bad feeling that they will eventually have to intervene.

"I wonder what the Guardians are doing," Jack pondered aloud.

"Nothing, most likely," Pitch sighed, but then smirked. "We should pay a visit soon."

Jack didn't say anything. It's barely been a day since Sandy had disappeared, and with the belief so low, the Guardians had to be struggling with their power depleting so quickly. He didn't particular want to see the three so degraded. He leaned against his staff, watching one of the lights begin to flicker. After several minutes though, watching the tiny light dim then light up, he started to grow bored.

Jack stood straight, sighing impatiently. Pitch continued to watch the lights, and Jack knew he wouldn't be offering any entertainment. He turned away from the globe, jumping up onto one of the pillars that towered over the lair. He heard some small chirps coming from the cages, but Jack ignored them.

They'll soon disappear anyways.

Jack thought about Baby Tooth and the Warren. She had been angry with him at first, naturally, but she later helped him. Jack didn't understand this, but tried not to delve too deep into it. She was merely aiding an old friend. Maybe she didn't even realize Jack was sided with Pitch now and assumed that he was just on his own. He shook his head. Of course not. Baby Tooth knew Jack was with Pitch, so why did she help him?

Jack wondered if she was trying to find a soft spot in him, to friend him so he would take her back to the lair. Jack narrowed his eyes at the little birds. Maybe she wanted to get to the teeth, and aiding Jack seemed like the best possible way of getting to them.

Little booger.

He glanced down at the teeth piled across the room. _There sure are a little kids_, Jack thought. The pile of teeth was high, and millions were scattered in that area. _Does Pitch keep them somewhere else too? There's no way he can't fit over a million teeth in one area. _Then Jack thought, _I wonder if my teeth are down there. _

He spied down at Pitch, who circled the globe intently, glaring at each individual light. _No, he would hide it. _Jack still jumped down from the pillar though, landing quietly near the teeth. He casually picked up one golden container, staring at the face of a little girl.

Even if Jack's teeth were down here, it would take days, maybe even weeks, to find them. He wondered if it would be worth it.

Jack wanted to see his memories. He wanted to know who he was three hundred years ago, how he became who is today and _why. _Jack yearned for answers. The Moon never offered them, none of the Guardians knew, and Pitch was hiding his only chance of figuring them out.

Jack needed those teeth. He needed his memories.

He jumped back up on the bridge, looking over at Pitch. Pitch was now sitting his throne, stroking one of Nightmares across its face. Jack had to get to Tooth. She had the answer, he knows she does. She's the Tooth Fairy, she _has _to know where his teeth are. He hoped that being the Tooth Fairy herself, she can even directly show Jack his memories without them. Jack knew it wasn't possible, but he secretly hoped she could.

Pitch would never let him leave, oh no, especially not to go visit the Guardians. He would have to sneak out, or at least make up an excuse to go outside.

"Pitch?" Jack called.

Pitch's eyes moved from his Nightmare to Jack.

Jack hesitated. "I-I need to go outside."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What for?"  
"Fresh air." Jack winced at his poor excuse. Pitch seemed to accept it though.

"Fine. Be back before dark."

Jack scrunched up his face. There's no way he'll be back before that.

"Umm. I was thinking of heading over to…. Russia. Its still winter there, and it'll be nice to cause a little panic with some blizzards," Jack explained, lying. He took a deep breath, waiting for Pitch's answer.

"Take Onyx with you." Pitch stroked the horses face again, as if emphasizing the point.

_Well, crud. _Jack groaned. "Do I have too?"

Pitch sent a glare to Jack. "Take her."

He slouched his shoulders, rolling his eyes. "I don't need a babysitter."

Pitch raised his hand, gesturing Jack over with his finger. Jack pouted and dragged his feet over to the throne. He'll have to lose the Nightmare somehow. They're tricky though; it'll be difficult.

Pitch stood once Jack neared. The Nightmare, Onyx, swung her head towards Jack, bumping it against his own. Jack laughed softly, running his hands through her mane. Pitch helped Jack onto the horse and Jack pouted down at Pitch.

"Humor me, Jack," he said.

Jack rolled his eyes again, irritated that his impossible mission was now even more impossible. With that, the horse jumped down off the ledge and into the shadows.

Traveling through the shadows was still new to Jack, but being able to grasp and leverage himself on something help keep his head from spinning and his limbs from flailing in the empty abyss. He kept his staff close to his chest, making sure he won't let go on accident.

Onyx jumped from the shadows and into the sky. Jack looked down to see Burgess, peaceful as the sun began to rise. Jack worried about the Nightmare being in daylight, but with the speed she was traveling at, he knew they would escape the rays of the sun.

Once they hit the ocean, Jack began to relax. He sat straighter on the Nightmare, letting his staff hang at his side but still clenching it tightly. Jack was worried though. The North Pole was in the opposite direction and Jack had to get there to talk to Tooth. He looked down at the Nightmare. _Here goes nothing. _

"Onyx, check this out!" Jack yelled through the wind.

He jumped off the horse, letting himself tumble and fall through the air. Onyx gave a loud cry from above, obviously surprised from Jack's sudden departure. Jack pointed himself down, letting himself slice through clouds as he came closer and closer to the ocean head first. He looked up to see Onyx chasing him, not nearly as fast as the bullet speed Jack was descending at though.

Before he hit the ocean, Jack called to the wind, whooping as it pushed him away from the water and carried him up back towards the sky. He flipped through the wind, laughing. He shot forward, yelling, "Race ya'!" to Onyx before letting the wind propel him to full speed.

Onyx chased him as Jack fly through the wind. He taunted at the Nightmare, saying she won't be able to catch him and he'll make it to Russia before her. Little does the mare know, Jack is going towards Burgess, where the sun was most likely rising at this point.

Jack's theory was confirmed when he saw the sun barely peeking over the horizon. The Nightmare neighed loudly behind him, hopefully to get his attention. Jack pretended not to hear but instead bolted forward, telling to wind to push from as fast as it could.

When the sun finally lit up the night sky, Jack looked back to see Onyx giving into the final shadows of the ocean. No doubt returning to the lair, away from the sun.

Pitch was going to be beyond mad.

* * *

Jack reached the North Pole in record time. He had to get there as fast as he could before Pitch realized his true plan. Jack figured he was in Russia by now, searching for him through the blizzards he had the wind carry over.

Jack easily found the large workshop on the side of the mountain and immediately went to the roof. He landed near the opening where the moon shined through, looking up at the sky, barely seeing the moon through the thick fog the sky possessed.

He peered down from the opening, glancing around the globe room. The room wasn't as bright as it used to be, and the globe was no longer spinning. The Guardians were nowhere in sight.

With a deep breath, Jack flew down to the globe, landing silently on top. He surveyed the room once more before slowly floating down to the floor. As soon as his feet touched the floor, the doors burst open and a mob of yetis charged inside.

Jack screeched in surprised and automatically raised his staff defensively. The yetis didn't falter from their steps and soon reached Jack. His staff was yanked from his hands which were soon forcefully pushed into his back.

"Hey, hey! Easy!" Jack yelled over the chaos. "I'm not here for a fight! I just want to talk to Tooth."

The yetis grumbled at him, pulling his arms back further.

"Ow!" Jack exclaimed. "Just stop with the rough treatment. Here, you can even keep my staff. I'm here for Tooth, that's it."  
The yetis, ignoring Jack, dragged him backwards out of the globe room and into the hall. Jack didn't bother trying to get free. His goal was to peacefully converse with Tooth, not be man handled by yetis and wait in a cage until Pitch had to save him.

The workshop was eerily quiet. Not an elf was seen and no toys flying were through the air. This was unsettling towards Jack. He looked through the railing as he was dragged along, and saw tables full of unfinished toys but no workers to continue them. Jack couldn't stare much longer, feeling confused and lost all over again. Christmas was gone, just like Easter. The wonder in children was equally as finished. All thanks to Jack and Pitch.

The yetis approached a door, a door Jack has never seen before, and knocked loudly. Jack hard North's deafening order of "come in". The yetis opened the door and walked in, dragging Jack behind them.

Jack was swung around and pushed onto the floor. "Hey!" he yelled, catching himself on his arms. The yetis yelled something in the air, and the room was silent. Jack huffed, irritated for the rough treatment, and titled his head up.

The first person he saw was Tooth. She was perched casually on the edge of a bed, a grey, fluffy ball in her lap. Jack pushed himself up, looking behind him to see the yetis passing North his staff, grumbling quietly to the man.

Jack noticed that North no longer stood tall and confident, but was slouched forward and his shoulders dropped instead. His face looked exhausted and his eyes no longer held the twinkle they once held. Jack snapped his head back around, glaring at the ground. _Stop feeling this way_. _This is what I wanted. I can't go back now. This is what is right_.He took a deep breath and lifted his again up at Tooth.

"Hey, Tooth," he greeted, sitting himself so he was kneeling before her.

Tooth nodded at Jack, confused on why he was here.

"The yetis said you needed to talk to her?" North asked from behind.

"Yeah," he dragged out. Tooth titled her hand, her hand slowly petting the ball of fur. "It's about my teeth."

The furry ball from Tooth's lap jumped up, relieving a very angry, little bunny.

"What could you possible want with your teeth?!" it yelled, its Australian accent clear as a bell. Jack's mouth dropped open before cracking into a full grin.

"Bunny?" he asked, trying to restrain his laugh.

"Pitch has all the teeth, 'member? Including yours!" Bunny yelled.

"That's the thing though," Jack snorted in laughter. He can't believe Bunny has fallen to this level. He's so…. cute. Jack's face hurt from trying not to smile. Bunny glared at him. He took a breath, trying to calm himself. "I don't know where they are, but I want my memories."

"Ask Pitch," Tooth replied sadly.

"He won't give them to me until we have our belief," Jack explained.

"Well, it shouldn't be bloody long now, mate," Bunny snapped.

"The thing is," he began. "I don't think he will ever give me my teeth."

"This wouldn't be the first time Pitch Black has broken a promise," Bunny growled.

Jack glared at the fuzz ball. "If you don't mind, fluffy, I'm here to talk to Tooth, not you."

"Fluffy?!" he yelled, outraged.

Tooth grabbed Bunny, pulling him off her lap and onto the bed. She stood from the edge and kneeled down in front of Jack.

"I don't know why you want to see your memories, Jack," Tooth explained. Jack opened his mouth but Tooth shushed him and continued on. "I want you to see your memories too. They'll show you why you were chosen to be a Guardian. It'll help you realize your true potential as Jack Frost." She smiled sadly. "But without the teeth, I can't show them to you. I can't directly tell you where they are either. Pitch as them, and only he knows where they are placed."

Jack sighed, frowning. "There's no way to see them without the box then."

"Right." Tooth nodded. Hesitantly, she grabbed onto Jack's hands. Jack let her hold them, having no reason to pull away from the gentle touch. "You should find them Jack. Maybe it'll help answer your questions. Also maybe even…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "With our hope gone – our belief – I just want you to be happy. I know you, good or evil, will never harm a child. If you believe in them Jack, they'll believe in you."

Jack didn't know what to say. He stared into Tooth's eyes. In the depths of violet, the grief he sees didn't excite him as it used to. Instead, it made him want to give up everything. Jack shook his head, frowning at this remorse he feels towards the Guardians.

"Fine," he said bitterly. He yanked his hands back from Tooth, standing up. "I didn't even want to see my stupid memories anyways."

The lie was obvious, but Jack didn't want the Guardians to think he was falling back to their side again. He was with Pitch now, and the Guardians needed to clearly know that fact.

Tooth observed Jack from below, worry in her features. Jack stared down at her, trying to make himself appear more superior and grander than her. He didn't feel like it though. He felt small and weak and confused. Tooth knew her morals and felt confident with her choices, while Jack doubted every action he made and was confused on which side he belonged to.

From the bed, Bunny was glaring furiously at Jack. Well, 'glaring furiously' can easily translate to 'a cute, little, grumpy bunny giving him a mildly stern look'.

"Anything else, _Jack_?" he snapped.

Jack shook his head, moving his eyes behind him to North. "No."

North smiled sadly at Jack, holding out his staff. He approached North slowly, carefully curling his fingers around his staff and pulling it out of North's grip.

"Then go."

Bunny's words silenced the room. North's sad smile turned into a depressed frown and Jack didn't have to turn to see Tooth kneeling on the floor defeated.

"Fine," he said, his voice thick with emotion.

He spun around, storming away from North, and past Tooth and Bunny towards the window. He wretched the it open, screaming at himself to not look back. Against his strong determination to keep his mind empty, the voice shouted at him, telling him to turn around and see what his actions have caused. What the Guardians had become and _it's all his fault. _

Before jumping through the window, Jack slowly turned his head, no longer wanting to fight against the voice. The Guardians all watched Jack, waiting. Jack opened his mouth, wanting to say something, to say _anything. _

Nothing came out.

He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, his voice strained.

He pushed himself off the ledge, letting the wind pick him up and carry him back to Pitch's lair.

* * *

Pitch was enraged, fuming, by the time Jack returned. As soon as Jack's feet touched the ground in Burgess, his ankles were snatched by shadows and he was violently pulled down into them. Jack panicked as he tumbled through the darkness, feeling as though he wasn't being pulled in a certain direction but just tumbling aimlessly through the abyss. The shadows soon shoved him out and Jack found himself falling face first into the concrete. Jack groaned from the rough landing, his nose throbbing from the fall.

He braced his hands on the ground, staff still held securely, and pushed himself up. The first thing he noticed was a black foot. Or feet. More importantly, Pitch's feet. Jack slowly looked up, meeting Pitch's burning eyes. Once again, if looks could kill….

"Jack Frost," Pitch growled.

Jack held back his snarky comment. Now was not the time to be sarcastic and funny.

"Where have you been?" he demanded.

"Uhh, Russia?" Jack lied, giving him an innocent smile. Pitch's eyes narrowed even more, if possible. Jack laughed nervously, pushing himself onto his feet. "Did you see the blizzards?"

"Oh, I saw the blizzards," Pitch grumbled. "No Jack Frost though. Just the _wind._"

"I…. got lost?" Jack looked down at his feet, shifting them as he continued to lie.

"Really now."

"Yep!" he laughed again, even more nervous.

"Yet you managed to find yourself at _the North Pole._"

_Jigs up. _"Look, Pitch – "

"Whose side are you on, _Jack?_" Pitch seethed.

"On yours!" Jack yelled desperately. "Forever and always on _this _side. With you."  
"Then act like it."  
With that, Pitch spun around and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

Jack paced rapidly in front of the globe, rubbing his hands together so much that he felt as though they were going to melt off from the heat. He had to talk to Pitch about his teeth, but after their argument earlier, Jack didn't dare even face Pitch. He'll soon have to though. The ten lights have counted down to seven, and Jack was ready to intervene, and he's sure Pitch is ready as well.

He seized his pacing and stared at the Nightmare King's throne. He had to find Pitch. He had to talk to him; he had to get his teeth.

He groaned loudly, dropping his hands to his sides dramatically. If Pitch had just given him his teeth before….

Then what?

Jack shook his head. _I just need to find Pitch, get my teeth, and then everything will be good. _But, now he had to actually find the boogeyman. Jack thought of all the possible places Pitch could be._ He's either in the library, outside scaring children, lurking in the shadows or in his bedroom…. Does Pitch even have a bedroom? Oh, I don't have time for this! _

"Pitch!" Jack yelled.

He was met with silence.

"Pitch!" he yelled louder. "I need to talk to you!"

Nothing.

Jack sighed, running a head through his hair. _So Pitch isn't here. Which means he's outside. _Exactly where Jack _doesn't_ want to be at the current moment. He groaned once again, dropping his head. He'll just have to wait until Pitch returns.

* * *

Jack wasn't sure how long he waited until Pitch returned, but it was long enough for Jack to doze off from boredom. He was rudely awakened by a swat on the back of his head. He jostled up from Pitch's throne, which was his ideal sleeping place. He looked around frantically, searching for the source of the hit. His turned his head behind him to see Pitch glaring down at him.

"Off," he demanded.

Jack immediately jumped off, expecting Pitch to sit there instead, but he only continued to glare at Jack.

"Have anything to say?" Pitch asked bitterly.

Jack opened his mouth, ready to ask for his teeth when he realized Pitch was waiting for an apology. _Seriously? _

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry for ditching Onyx."

Pitch's glare intensified.

"And for going to North Pole."

The glare went on. Jack groaned loudly.

_What does he want, a written memo? _"I'm sorry for lying to you?"  
Pitch reached over, patting Jack's head gently. "Better." He sat down in his chair, appearing to feel more relaxed with Jack's lame apology.

_ What a weirdo. _

"Pitch, I need to talk to you," Jack explained slowly, watching Pitch carefully for his reaction.

"Hmm?" he hummed.

Jack hesitated. This is not going to end well. "I want my teeth."

Jack was pretty sure he heard the shadows move with the silence that filled the room.

"Why?" Pitch finally asked, his voice deathly low.

Jack flinched at his tone. "I want to see my memories."

"Why do you care?" he asked.

"I want to know who I _was_!" Jack exclaimed.

"Why does that matter?" Pitch snapped. "You are Jack Frost now. Forever to live in the shadows with _me _and to help spread fear. How does your past bring an relevance to who you are _now?_"

"It matters to me, okay?" Jack yelled. "All those years, alone, thinking I never had a family, a home – "

"I am your family now, Jack." Pitch suddenly stood, towering over Jack. He gestured around the room. "And this is your home."

Jack wasn't sure what to say. "You're not my family," he mumbled, thinking aloud.

"Pardon?" Pitch asked, clearly irritated.

"You're not my family," Jack said louder, his eyes tracing the floor beneath his feet.

"That may be true, my Nightmare Prince, but do you know what?" He leaned in close, lips pursed in a straight line.

Jack tried to block out his voice, dreading the answer.

"I'm closest you are ever going to get."

Jack felt as though an knife had pierced his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut, denying any tears that threatened to spill. Jack had no family, and he will never have a family. Even though he was with Pitch now, he was never going to be family – not the family Jack craved for.

Jack let his head fall, blinking away the tears that were beginning to fall. "What I see in the teeth won't change who I am. I will still be with you and still be on this side. I just _need _to know –"

"No, you _want_ to know," Pitch interrupted. "You may think seeing your memories will not change you, but they will."

"No, they-!"  
"The Moon choose you to be a Guardian for a reason," he explained. "I don't want you to see that reason."

"But I do!"

"You're not getting your teeth, Jack!" Pitch yelled, his face morphing into something far more frightening than the rage his voice held.

Jack jumped away from Pitch, letting his staff crash to the ground. His eyes were wide and his mouth dropped from Pitch's outburst. A surge of fear had burst through Jack, and he couldn't shake the feeling of it.

Pitch leaned away from Jack, his face relaxing into a frown. "Jack, I – "

"This is the only thing I have and will ever ask for," Jack gasped out, his hands still shaking at his sides. "You don't know if it'll change anything."

"I do know," Pitch said hesitantly, his voice teetering between calm and anger. "I see the struggle you face every second. You act different when the Guardian's are mentioned – less motivated, more distant towards me. I know you are always fighting for control. I don't want the teeth to let the old you take over again."

Jack took a step back, shaking his head. Pitch pulled something from his robe, and Jack's eyes widened at the sight of the golden box. Pitch held them out towards Jack.

"I will give you your teeth, but only with you knowing the consequences." Jack hesitantly took the container, running his fingers over the engraving on the side. "Go outside, and look at them. But know this, you may not know the outcome of seeing your memories, but I do. When you look at your memories, you will not return. If you do, it is to fight."

With that being said, Pitch turned away from Jack and vanished into the darkness of the hallway. Jack dropped his shoulders, feeling mentally drained from the argument. He knew Pitch would be upset with this request, but Jack wasn't expecting him to have that much rage of it. He figured he wouldn't be seeing Pitch until the lights went out and Jack was needed again.

He looked down at the golden container, and wondered what memories lay inside. A smile tugged at his lips as he imagined the family he once had. Happy, content, alive…. His smile faded.

His family was dead now, and seeing the memories won't change that. He at least wants to _know _what they were like though. _But would it matter? _Of course it would matter. The answer to his biggest question is in his hands, waiting to be opened. Who is Jack Frost, and why was he chosen to be what he is now?

_Open them. _

Should he? Pitch had seemed to know what will happen if the memories were seen, not letting Jack even question his knowledge. Jack never once doubted Pitch, never called him a lair. So how was now different?

_Maybe he's hiding something. _

Hiding something? No, Pitch would never hide anything from him. He doesn't have a reason too.

_Just open the box. _

Jack shook his head. If what Pitch said was true, then Jack will never be with him. They will return as enemies, separated by their dreams and nightmares. Jack will never get his belief, and the Guardians will still fear him because of the deeds he has already committed.

On the other hand, he can finally know who he was. Why he was chosen to be Jack Frost and to be a Guardian? The answer is _right here, _waiting.

Jake took a deep breath. He clutched the teeth close to his heart and looked up at the ceiling. Once again, he is lost and confused, unsure of his unknown path. He's in a fork in the road, and he has to choose one path to walk on. He takes an agonizing step in one direction, hoping that this is the right path.

**Oops. Cliffhanger. **

**Why is Daddy Pitch so desirable? **

**I maaaaaay have taken this father/son thing too far, buuuut... *shrug* There also wasn't any room for blackice :( Next chapter, pinky swear! **

**A few things (as per usual):**

**Jack is still a teenager. He's dumb, clueless and everything is UNFAIR and EYE ROLLS everywhere! So DRAMATIC. **

**Pitch is an asshole, and a loser. (God, I love him.) **

**Bunny is a fluff ball because oh no there's no more belief. **

**"Why isn't Jack more EVIL?" because... I don't know. He's just a kid. All he wants is his belief. **

**Fun fact: Pitch says "spread fear" instead of "obtain belief"**

**Funny visual: Pitch thinking he's a genius for choosing his nightmares to be horses and laughing about his GREAT IDEA... then naming one of them ONYX. (He's such a loser.)**

**Thanks for the awesome reviews and the follows and favorites... etc. You guys are great :) **

**See you in CHAPTER 11 where Jack's decision is REVEALED. Bum, bum, BUUUUM. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the wait. **

**Sorry for the shitty chapter. :(**

**...**

**ENJOY :)**

Pitch was in the library, sitting silently in his chair as he stared off into space. An open book lay in his lap, seeming to be forgotten. Jack was being very careful when watching him. Pitch had mentioned several days ago he was curious of what abilities Jack had now possessed, who knew one was being able to absorb into the shadows? He was currently tucked securely in the darkness of the room, extremely surprised to find that the Nightmare King himself has not been able to detect him in his own shadows. Or maybe Pitch was just ignoring him. Either way, Pitch appeared too deep in thought to do anything.

It had been hours since Jack had received his teeth. He had placed the teeth in his pocket, and that was that. Jack wasn't going to risk his chance to get his belief and to be with Pitch. It wasn't worth it. Maybe some day, Jack will look at his teeth.

He had thought about destroying them – throwing them until a deep crack in the lair where they will be forever lost in or crushing them into dust. He couldn't bring himself too. He had reached the surface, placing the teeth on a rock and picking up another, determined to crush the golden box and the teeth that were held inside. He had ended up throwing the rock into the forest in a fit of rage. No matter how much strength he was putting into this decision, he couldn't bring himself to destroy his memories.

Afterwards, he curled himself up in Pitch's throne, feeling lonelier than ever. Pitch had given Jack the teeth, expecting them to be opened and for Jack to leave him. He was prepared to lose his Nightmare Prince. Jack couldn't help but feel miserable at this thought.

After an hour of sitting alone, he decided he needed to find Pitch. Seven lights still remained, and Jack was ready to take care of this problem. He jumped form the throne, leaving his staff leaning against the globe and marched through the halls, searching for the boogeyman.

The moment Jack had discovered Pitch was when Jack found out his new ability. He walked straight into the library, not entirely expecting Pitch to be there. With the door already opened, he took three steps in, spotted Pitch, and panicked. He immediately backed himself up and found himself in the shadows, completely hidden.

He would occasionally take his chances and move around the room, trying to understand his limits when traveling and hiding while still being shielded by the darkness. Jack knew he needed a lot of practice before he could use this to his advantage in the field.

He has spent several hours now hiding from Pitch, just watching him. Pitch would sit in his chair, his back straight and his chin high as he read. It was soon after Jack started observing that Pitch moved his eyes up, staring at the door he had left opened. He hasn't moved since.

Was Pitch waiting for Jack to return? Does he know that he hadn't looked at his teeth?

Jack took a deep breath. He needed to face Pitch. He needed to show Pitch that he would never leave him, not even for his memories. He wanted their world. He wanted it so badly. He wanted to stand beside Pitch until the end of time, wrapped up in their cold and darkness.

With a small step, Jack emerged from the shadows behind Pitch. He grinded his teeth together, waiting for Pitch to greet him. He knew Pitch could sense him, he always does.

"Are you quite done now?" Pitch asked impatiently.

Jack wasn't exactly surprised he knew he was hiding in the room. Nothing hides in the shadows from Pitch.

"You knew I wouldn't look at the teeth?" Jack asked quietly, moving around the chair so he faced Pitch.

Pitch had his book closed now, his hands gently placed on top of the worn cover.

"I didn't know what you would do."  
Jack frowned. So Pitch was ready to let go of him. Pitch must have seen the dejected look on his face, because he found himself being tugged down. Jack kneeled in front of him, crossing his arms over Pitch's legs and resting his chin on them.

"You thought I would look at them," Jack mumbled, burying his face into his arms. He felt his hair being stroked.

"You wanted them so badly, what else could I think?"

Jack heard the amusement in his tone, but he couldn't understand why this was so humorous to him.

"I just thought…" Jack trailed off. _What did I think? That I could see my memories and everything will go back to normal?_

"Thought…?" Pitch repeated, continuing to play with Jack's hair.

Jack lifted his head, looking into Pitch's eyes. "I thought nothing would change."

Pitch clawed gently at Jack's scald, sending shivers down his spine. "Where are they now?"  
Jack buried his face back on his arms.

"You still have them."

He nodded. "I couldn't destroy them."  
"Would you like me to keep them safe for you?" Pitch asked, his voice quiet.

Jack shook his head. Pitch ran his fingers through Jack's hair again.

"Are you sure?"  
He nodded again, afraid of what Pitch would do to them. _Destroy them? _

"The lights…" Jack began.

"What about them?" Jack felt Pitch tugging tenderly at his hair, curling it around his finger.

"I want to…" he hesitated, deciding on his wording. "I want that belief."  
"You want to take it."

Jack peeked from his arms to see Pitch grinning down at him, an evil glint in his eye. Jack nodded, never breaking eye contact. Pitch chuckled deeply, his hand running down Jack's head, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Only for you, my prince."

Jack would never admit this aloud, but his new favorite thing is holding Pitch's hand. Pitch's touch would always have this effect on him. His skin would tingle and he would feel drawn to it. Jack wondered if he was just attracted to the darkness the Nightmare King held, or simply because Jack craved for any type of touch.

Pitch had helped Jack off the floor, smiling down on him as he stood. Jack relaxed his hands in Pitch's, expecting them to be released. Instead, only one was, while the other was wrapped around by Pitch's hand, his fingers intertwining with Jack's.

Jack was stunned by the gesture. He has seen many people hold hands – parents and children, siblings, friends, lovers. Jack couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Pitch earning the title "best friend". He doesn't feel like a friend though. It wasn't fitting enough. Jack wasn't sure what Pitch was to him. His ally? His mentor? His _king? _The idea of Pitch being his father made him grimace.

He followed quickly behind Pitch, letting his other hand curl around theirs. Pitch's hand tightened around Jack's from the action. They casually strolled the hallway, Pitch leading them and seeming to be in no rush at all. Jack was eagerly following, taking smaller steps to trick his mind into thinking they were moving faster.

When reaching the main room, Jack immediately shot off, dragging Pitch along with him. He stumbled after Jack, not entirely prepared for him to sprint off like that. When reaching the globe, Jack let go of Pitch's hand and rushed to the throne near by to retrieve his staff, grinning at Pitch.

"Can we go now?" he asked excitedly.

Pitch smiled, and gestured to the globe. "Where shall we go?"  
Jack rushed over to the globe, looking over each individual light. "There!" he pointed to one located in Germany. Even though it will be spring there, Jack will still be able to fabricate some blizzards, hopefully creating fear.

"Shall we then?"

Jack looked over at Pitch, seeing him stretch out his hand towards him. Jack smiled, taking his hand and was pulled into the darkness.

Unsurprisingly, Jack found himself under a bed. However, Pitch was not with him. _Odd. _He was sure Pitch would have joined him. Jack very carefully maneuvered himself out from under the bed, peeking over the frame to spy around the room. The bed creaked above him, and Jack automatically recalled back under. When a moment had passed and the bed was quiet, he slide from underneath, using the frame as leverage to push himself out. He reached back under the bed and picked up his staff, carefully pulling it out.

Jack knew he couldn't be seen, but he couldn't help but be sneaky, afraid he was going to wake the sleeping child in the bed. The child was a little girl, wrapped up tightly in her blankets and couldn't have been more than six years of age. Jack unconsciously reached out towards the kid, touching her cheek gently.

Frost spread across her cheek and the girl shivered from the touch. Jack noticed her eyes squeezed shut and she curled herself tighter into a ball. He wondered if his touch brought fear, just like Pitch's.

Jack turned away from the girl, looking around the room and observing each corner thoroughly. He was expecting Pitch to be hiding, watching him. Yet, he wasn't in the room. Even if he was, he obviously didn't want to be seen. Jack sighed internally. He didn't know how to scare children besides with a small rush of fear from a sled ride. Apparently though, Pitch wanted Jack to figure out this problem on his own: how to scare a sleeping child.

Jack slowly reached out towards the girl again, thinking of nothing but darkness and fear. He concentrated hard on his fears. Being alone forever, forgotten, never to be seen, to never have a family. He touched the girl's cheek again, surging all this fear and darkness into his touch.

The frost laced onto her skin like before, but this time, black seemed to mix with the white frost. Jack smiled at the sight. Cold and dark.

The girl grunted in her sleep, her closed eyes squeezing even tighter. A small dust of black appeared over her head, twirling. After a quick second, the twirling, black cloud turned into a nightmare. The nightmare pranced around the girl's head and neighed before beginning to trot around Jack. Jack welcomed the nightmare's touch, proud of himself that he managed to create a small fear from the girl. When Jack touched the nightmare, he felt a twinge of fear. Fear of being abandoned. Jack had created this fear in the girl.

The girl still continued to cringe in her sleep, and Jack loved it. He grinned at the fearful sight of the girl, enjoying the show of her writhing in her own fear. He brought his hands on the girl's face again, his grin widening as the black in his frost was more prominent. The girl's eyes flew open, her mouth opened wide as if she was about the scream.

Jack waited. He waited for her to see him, to fear him.

It never happened though.

The girl's eyes were wide and were moving around the room rapidly as Jack continued to hold her face, but they never landed on him. Jack released her face with wide eyes, feeling completely dejected.

Even after creating her fear, she still couldn't see him. Jack flared up. His eyes narrowed angrily as he aimed his staff directly on the girl's forehead.

If she can't see him, she can't see anyone.

A burst of frost erupted from the curve of his staff, hitting the girl's forehead and spreading over her eyes. The girl began to scream, panicking from the erupting of pain in her eyes. She clawed at her eyes as the frost began to seep into them, freezing them, damaging them, _blinding them. _

The girl's parents rushed in, calling her name over and over again. Jack watched with a glare, not feeling a sliver of guilt from his actions. They ran to her bed, trying to pull the girl's hands away. She responded by reaching out and hitting them blindly.

The nightmare beside Jack began to grow, its strength increasing as the fear poured from the girl. Jack inhaled the fear, sensing every detail and ever spike of it. Her fear was to never be able to see again, and in return, to never been seen back.

Jack felt satisfied by this fear. He spent decades, centuries being alone, abandoned, never to be seen or believed in. The children should feel this same fear. He wanted them to feel the despair and loneliness he felt.

As the girl continued to trash in her bed, the skin around her eyes bleeding as she continued to claw at them, Pitch appeared from behind Jack. Jack wasn't startled by his sudden presence, or by the hand that was placed on his back. He just went on watching the girl, and the parents who desperately tried to help.

"Interesting fear," Pitch announced.

"She didn't see me," Jack explained, his voice monotone.

"It will take time, Jack." Pitch's hand on his back moved to curl around his shoulders.

Jack was silent. He knew it would take time, but he was impatient. He has waited for over 300 years for his belief. He wanted it. He needed it.

"Does she still believe?" he asked quietly.

"No."

Jack could hear the grin in his voice.

"Six are left," he mumbled mostly to himself.

"Shall we go visit the Guardians?" Pitch asked, dropping his hand from Jack's shoulder.

Jack shook his head, remembering he last words he spoke to them. _"I'm sorry." _"You go without me."

"Hmm?" Pitch hummed. "Are you sure? It'll be _fun._"

Jack shook his head again. If he saw the Guardians again, he'll be afraid of what he'll feel, and being closer to the darkness then ever, he doesn't want to ruin it. He doesn't want to see their agony and the terrified expressions when realizing that they are now only six lights away from containing no belief.

"Why don't you return home then? You can watch the show from the globe."  
Jack chuckled at Pitch's carefree tone. "All right, Mr. Confidence. Don't disappoint me," he teased.

"Anything but," he whispered. Jack felt his hand run through his hair before it pulled away. He turned to find Pitch seeping into the shadows giving him a dark look before disappearing.

Jack sighed, returning his eyes back on the child. She quieted down now, but her eyes have suffered for it. Her parents were screaming on the phone as blood gushed for her eyes along with area around it. He turned away form the gruesome sight and launched himself out the window.

Jack found himself back in the lair pacing in front of the globe impatiently, waiting for the six final lights to vanish. He knew Pitch was at the North Pole already, most likely giving them a victory speech along with a show.

After numerous hours of pacing, Jack decided to settle himself in the throne, to try to relax his nerves. Only six lights separated his and Pitch's victory from the Guardians. Only six more stopped him from getting his belief.

In the corner of his eye, a light when out. Jack jumped up from the throne and bolted over, eyeing the place where the light disappeared.

Five more.

He quickly began circling the globe, trying to locate another missing light. He stopped his feet when he saw one light beginning to dim. He stared at it very closely, watching it become dimmer and dimmer. Then, it was gone.

Jack eyed the four that remained, his mind going haywire and he wasn't able to stop his eyes from moving over each and every light.

Two went out simultaneously.

Jack held his breath. They were going out fast. Two more. Just only two more.

Everything froze when another went out.

One, just one measly light.

Just one more and then everything will be perfect. Jack waited. He waited and waited and waited. The light never went out. He narrowed his vision onto the light, eying the location it was present out.

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

Jack stared wide eyed at the last remaining light. The only light that was stopping him from achieving his perfect world.

"Jamie."

**That took forever (it's been sitting on my computer for a week. Oops.)**

**If you have question, concerns, comments, shoot me a PM or review. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Weeeeeell. I suck at updates. Sorry. School. Life. Etc. Blah. **

* * *

Jack was frozen. His body was paralyzed and his eyes were unblinking. The little light on the globe continued to shine bright, never giving into the darkness. And yet, Jack didn't know what to do.

Jamie had seen the Guardian's the night they were collecting the teeth. Naturally, his belief would be strong, but Jack would have never thought it would be this strong. He unfroze himself and began pacing in front of the globe, his staff swinging at his side as he swung his arm anxiously.

He needed to talk to Pitch. Pitch will know what to do. Jack had a fear though, a fear that Jamie's future won't be as bright as his light. His life will go out as soon as the light does.  
He feared for Jamie's life.

Pitch's entrance was loud and grander than usual. He made the peculiar entrance by stepping through the shadows cast on the wall and stormingover to the globe. Jack jumped out of his path, daring to not say anything until he does. The shadows at Pitch's feet were curling and rising in anger. His aura was screaming fear and Jack had to take several steps back to escape the shadows that reached out towards him. Pitch came to an abrupt stop in front of the globe, his eyes staring directly at the single, golden light. As if staring would snuff the golden ball out from it's place.

Jack waited for Pitch to say something, anything at all. He never did. He continued to have a show down with the light, his back tense and his hands curled into tight fists. After several minutes of the constant silence, the shadows released from the unknown. Jack slowly approached Pitch. He set down his staff on the ground, trying to show himself off as an innocent bystander as the shadows continued to lash out at anything that moved, completely out of Pitch's control.

When he reached the shadows, a single strand grasped his ankle. Jack tensed at the feeling of pure fear, feeling all his emotions of loneliness, abandonment and to always be invisible, but he continued to march on. More shadows latched into him, but never once harmed him. Jack assumed the darkness he possessed helped calm Pitch's rogue shadows and therefore, they felt attracted to him. He still didn't trust the nightmare sand that tried to dig into his skin, however much they caressed it. He needed to calm Pitch down. They needed a plan.

"Pitch," Jack called quietly. He slowly reached for Pitch's hands, his fingers brushing gently over his. When Jack slithered his hand all the way in Pitch's, his hand closed into Pitch's own.

"We need to go," Pitch explained. His voice was even, calm, but from his aura, Jack knew he was the complete opposite.

Jack stepped closer to Pitch, raising their hands so he can place Pitch's against his cheek. "After you," he whispered.

Shadows wrapped around Jack and Pitch, and Jack let them. He felt them absorb into his skin and pull him through the darkness. He embraced the shadows and grasped Pitch's hand tighter. What does Pitch have planned? Jack wondered. It can't be good, not with the reaction he is presenting now.

They were released from the shadows and Jack dropped their hands from his face, but never unclasping them. He looked up at Pitch, watching the tall man glare at the house.

"They're already here," he hissed.

"Who?" Jack asked, turning to the house and squinting his eyes at it.

"The Guardians," he seethed.

Jack hesitated on his next question. "...What do we do?"

Pitch took a deep breath, his shoulders rising up and falling slowly. His posture seemed more relaxed now, the shadows withdrew from the ground and Jack, returning back to him. Pitch turned towards Jack, his hand never leaving. He lifted his other hand and the shadows rose to it, forming Jack's staff. Jack grinned, glad to see Pitch had not forgotten his only weapon.

When Pitch held the staff, there was no frost, but the weapon recognized the darkness and turning completely back. Shadows curled form the angles and nightmare sand twirled around it. Pitch moved the staff towards Jack, encouraging him to take the reformed weapon. As Jack's hand grasped the staff next to Pitch's, frost began mixing with the shadows, creating a beautiful pattern against it. The nightmare sand was absorbed into the frost, creating black ice in the shadows. Pitch released the staff, the shadows withdrawing with him but left the black ice consuming the old wood.

Jack smiled up at Pitch. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Pitch nodded. "I have a favor to ask of you, Jack."

Jack's smile faded, dread washed over him. "What is it?"

"The boy," Pitch gestured to the house with his head. "Jamie Bennett."

"Yeah," he said hesitantly. Jack wasn't sure if he would be capable of scaring Jamie. Sure, he was just another child, but for a moment, back when Jack gave Jamie a sled ride of a lifetime, he thought Jamie would believe in him. It made him hopeful and wishful. For a second, it was just Jack and Jamie's belief.

"My sweet, sweet, Jack Frost." Pitch scraped his fingers along the side of Jack's face.

"Y-yeah?" Jack stuttered, anxious of Pitch's favor, especially if he had to sweet talk him. His fingers twitched within the confinements of Pitch's hand.

Pitch smiled, stepping closer to Jack. The hand from his cheek trailed up to his hair. Pitch gently ran his fingers through it.

"Do you believe in me?" he whispered, his hand tightening around Jack's.

Jack nodded, not trusting his voice to hide his nervousness. _This can't be good._

"And you know that I believe in you, right?" Pitch's face moved closer to Jack's. Jack began to move back, but Pitch grasped his neck tightly, making sure he wouldn't be able to turn away. Jack nodded again, unable to tear his eyes away from Pitch's golden ones.

"I know you will be able to complete this request for me."

"What is it?" Jack whispered.

Pitch grinned, and whispered, "I need you... to kill Jamie Bennett."  
"No!" Jack whipped away from Pitch, harshly yanking his hand back and taking several steps back. His eyes were wide with shock and his chest twisted painfully. "Are you crazy?!"

"Jack-"

"I'm not KILLING anyone!" he screamed.

Pitch's eyes narrowed angrily. "If Jamie Bennett doesn't disappear, neither shall the light. This is the only option, Jack."  
"No, it isn't!" Jack yelled. He shook his head rapidly, ignoring the tears that fell from his eyes. _Stop it, stop it, stop it!_

"Jack," Pitch said calmly. "If you do this, you won't feel any more remorse or guilt. You'll be the Jack Frost I need."  
"Need?" he echoed, narrowing his eyes to a dangerous kind of slit. Pitch flinched, realizing his mistake of word choice.  
"I'm just a pawn to you, aren't I? You've never truly wanted me. You just needed me to help destroy the Guardians."  
"That's not tru-"

"How can it not be true?" Jack cried out, taking several more steps away from him. "You've never wanted me. You've never believed in me. You've never trusted me! ... And Just like everyone else. In what way are you different?"  
"Jack, no-"

"You're just another child, Pitch. Someone who can't _see _me or _hear _me. You said you were family, but you're not! You'll never be MY _family!"_

Pitch stared at Jack, unmoving. His hand was raised, as if he was debating whether to reach out to Jack or not.

"I do believe in you," he said quietly. "That's why I need you to do this for me, so I can have you. I want you, Jack Frost."

Jack shook his head, his mind screaming at him to run. But his voice was kept at a calm level. "No, you don't." He turned away from Pitch, jumping onto the ledge of the building.

"Leaving, are you?" Pitch called after, his voice dropping to a deathly tone. "What are you going to do? Go back to the Guardian's? They'll never accept you, Jack. Not like how I accepted you."

"I'm not going back to the Guardians," Jack explained, turning his head back towards Pitch.

"So where will you go? Wander the world like a lost spirit. Having no belief, no one to converse with. You'll be more alone than ever," Pitch growled. "Stay, Jack. I command you."  
"Yeah?" Jack narrowed his eyes at him.  
"...Make me."

Jack quickly took a step back and launched himself off of the roof. He heard Pitch call after him, his voice filled with raw fury, and not the gentle tone he had grown accustomed to. Jack ignored the calls and pushed himself faster into the forest.  
_What are you doing?_

"Shut up!" Jack cried at the voice.

_What__ever__ happened to your perfect world? _It mocked.

Jack growled at it, instead concentrating on his movements through the trees, avoiding low branches and boulders.

_Someone doesn't sound happy._

He growled at the voice again, this time losing his concentration and he found himself face first into a tree. He tried to moved around but his foot was caught on a lose branch. He was flung to the ground and landed hard on his side. The forest floor was mostly covered in dirt, but drifts of snow was scattered around.

_You craved for Pitch's attention, and now what? You're just running away from it?_

"Do you want me to kill Jamie?" Jack seethed, wincing from the soreness of his body. He sat up slowly from the ground, feeling his muscles and skin pull painfully from the landing.

_I'm just saying ...you're not very smart._

Jack glared at the ground.

_I don't want to be alone again._

"Then get out," he snapped.

_Not an easy task._

Jack slowly stood to his feet, blanking his mind from any thoughts or feelings. He wanted to be with Pitch, more than anything. He wanted to be beside him for eternity, living in their perfect world of cold and dark. He wanted to be _seen, _to be _heard. _He wanted to be believed in, to be loved, to be feared…

And he ran away from all of it.

He knew achieving his dreams wouldn't be a simple task, he knew there would be consequences and risks, but he never once considered murder as a step in this achievement. He wasn't ready, and wasn't sure if he would ever be.

Pitch was darker than him, much darker. He was willing to kill, to destroy. Jack wasn't. Not with ... _him _still inside.

Jack moved his eyes up to the moon. He wondered if he can be as dark as Pitch, maybe then he'll complete this step and he'll have everything he has ever dreamed of.

Dreamed….

His thoughts drifted back to the Sandman, silent but full of cheer and the mentioned dreams. He wondered…

No. Of course not.

Jack sighed, eyes focused intently on the moon, letting it shine brightly down on him.

"I want to make a compromise," Jack exclaimed.

The rays of the moon flickered once, and Jack knew he was listening.

"We both want something, but both of us can't have what we want," he said, still staring up at the moon. "You want your Guardians, and I want to be with Pitch, forever."

He stayed silent for a moment, waiting for a whisper from the moon. But none came.

"You know I still have this... 'good' in me, the other Jack. I know with him, you can bring back Sandy." The moon's reaction was silent and nonexistent, but Jack had a different feeling then the time in the lake, his rebirth. He thought the moon was actually listening this time around.  
. "Take him. Bring back Sandy. We can both fight for what we want. If you believe you'll win, there shouldn't be a reason why you would deny this. If you win, Pitch will be gone, and so will I. If I win… I'll never be alone again. I'll be believed in and loved and feared and-!" Jack stopped himself, his smile fading. "Just… please."

He waited. He waited for seconds, minutes, hours, he wasn't sure. He only continued to stare at the silent moon, _waiting. _The answer was quiet, almost unnoticeable, but it was clear. The moon's light dimmed and brightened up slowly.

Jack's breath was shaky. The moon had agreed, he can feel it. He was going to be someone Pitch needed and wanted. Someone Jack wanted, as well. The voice inside was quiet, but he felt fear and uncertainty. He read the fear of not existing anymore. The fear of never creating snow days again and making a child smile. He also felt the fear of never getting the kind of believe he wanted. Jack felt sympathy, but didn't let it falter the inner happiness he felt.

He closed his eyes, and waited. He waited for the pain, the feeling of freedom and the complete control of fear. He waited for the feeling of part of his soul being extracted from him.

He waited for the existence of his dreams to become reality. To be with Pitch forever.

* * *

**To be honest. I didn't exactly read through this, sooooo. **

**Oops. **

**:)**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**

**See you in chapter... THIRTEEN. FOURTEEN. WHAT CHAPTER IS THIS? **


	13. Not Chapter 13

Well. Uhh. This is awkward.

It's been a lovely couple of months since I have last updated, aaaaand... Yeah. Hey, life, how you doing.

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things and update this piece of junk, but the ending of the story is... choppy. Not very happy where this is heading, but we'll see : )

See you later?

MAYBE?


	14. The Real Chapter 13

**Wha- WHAT'S THIS? AN ACTUAL CHAPTER?**

**I- Oh my gosh. What is this?!**

**Yes. I fail in the compartment of "updating" because... I'm a lame. Sorry. **

**Anywho. ENJOY. **

* * *

Jack wasn't sure what he would feel. He was expecting pain, naturally. Maybe fear and doubt. However, he wasn't expecting the sensation of free falling; the feeling of complete relaxation coming over him. He felt content. He felt free.

There was light around him. Bright, golden light that surrounded his mind and body. It was calming, and welcoming. Jack reached out his hand, wanting to touch the beautiful light. When he tried to however, it began to fade.

A painful tug in his heart made him suck in a sharp breath of air. It was a quick pain, but very strong. His stomach twisted uncomfortably and his head began to pound. The beautiful light in front of him grew brighter, but the light behind him was disappearing. He wanted to reach out towards the light, to embrace it. He wanted to close his hands around the small flame and keep it close to his heart. A part of him denied that urge though. The light was too bright. It hurt him just by simply looking at it. It was instinct to cringe away from it. Jack took several steps back into the darkness; the once calming light now irritating his eyes and making his body scream 'retreat'.

There was a flash of extreme pain in his head and a strong pull. A force shoved Jack forward and he fell to the ground, collapsing on his knees as the pain disappeared just as quickly as it came. He panted on the ground, trying to regain his bearings as his ears rung and his vision swirled uncontrollably. He blinked several times, shaking his head to get rid of the ringing. Jack slowly fell back on his knees, hanging his head as he tried to calm his breath. Was that it? Was the moon accepting his compromise? He felt no different. Maybe a bit empty and tense, but nothing seemed to have changed. He moved his eyes up to see… him.

Jack Frost stood in front of him, his hair white as snow and his eyes blue as the sky. He looked confused. His eyebrows pushed together and his mouth slight agape.

Jack could only stare at his former self, waiting to see what will happen next. Jack Frost's eyes widened suddenly, his hand struck up to gripe at his chest and began desperately to try to tear the fabric of his hoodie.

Jack watched in fear, but also in interest as his former self began to change. His skin began turning into the beautiful golden sand that the Sandman had once possessed. The sand consumed every bit of flesh of the other Jack, leaving his whole body a sculpture of the golden sand. The golden Jack was looking at his hands, his eyes holding wonder and fascination. Once they moved up back to him, they squinted in confused. A small breeze of wind overcame the black and white scenery, ruffling his hair. The other Jack, closed in by the sand, slowly began fading. Piece by the piece, the wind took away the sand, leaving nothing but the empty space that Jack once stood in.

Jack watched the last signs of the golden sand disappear from the grass, his mind only flashing back to the Sandman. The moon overhead became smaller as it absorbed itself back into the sky, its light dimming down on Jack. He watched the moon for a moment, scrunching his eyes. He felt no different. He was hoping a sense of evil, a touch of darkness. Even the feeling of freedom. He still felt trapped with unwanted emotions though.

Jack opened his mouth, preparing himself to yell at the moon when he felt an extreme amount of pressure on his heart - it's as though a hand had reached into his chest and tightly grabbed it, having the intention of never letting go. The hand pulled roughly back though, a ripping feeling consuming Jack as he screamed in agony.

A small blue light appeared in front of Jack as he tried to control his breath. The light was dim, but the blue made up for the loss of shine. He watched the light slowly disappear, as did the pain in Jack's chest.

Once the light was fully gone, he finally felt different.

To put it bluntly, everything looked darker. The moon didn't appear as bright and the deep blue sky was the color of pure darkness. The leaves in the trees looked almost like a sickly dark green, no longer holding the spring green they used to have. The shadows the trees cast, seemed to wave in the wind and take unrecognizable shapes.

Jack couldn't help but breathe in the night air. Letting the cold, bitter breeze consume his mind. Everything felt different. They looked different, smelled different, even the touch was different. There no longer was that light in the darkness. The light that one could always sense, even in the darkest of times.

_There was no light._

Jack looked down at his feet, admiring the silky feeling of grass between his toes. His eyes trailed over to his staff that he had dropped once the moon had taken over his mind. He reached down to retrieve it, watching in fascination as pure white frost, tainted with black, shielded the wood. Icicles slowly began drooping down from the hook, leaving a sinister, deadly look.

A grin slowly broke onto Jack's face as he stroked the black ice, loving the feeling that _he made that. _He moved his vision onto a tree. A helpless little tree. Small green leaves were regrowing from the harsh winter, ready to begin it's role in spring. Jack pointed his staff at the tree. He focused his energy into the staff and... boom. Frost lightening shot through the tip like a bullet, the icicles breaking off and joining the flow of the lightning. The ground shook dangerously before the trunk of the tree exploded from the force, leaving the rest to fall sideways from the loss of the support.

Jack's laughter disrupted the peace of the night sky, leaving a hint of the destruction that was soon to come.

* * *

Jack knew exactly where to find Pitch. Call it a sixth sense or simply a pure hunch, but Jack was sure where he could find Pitch. Although his confidence was high, he felt anxious. He felt only like a simple pawn in Pitch's game. A pawn that will aid Pitch but will never benefit himself. He saw it differently though. He didn't see himself as a pawn, but as an ally. A partner. Even a side kick. He's heart felt passion towards Pitch but his brain made him doubt himself. So he was nervous. Nervous that Pitch won't take him back, even if he was stronger. But he was now exactly what Pitch _wanted _and _needed. _He had no reason to be anxious and nervous. Pitch _will _take him back. Yet, the feelings remained.

With the amount of time that had passed, Jack was sure the job was taken care of. Pitch was strong enough to take down the Guardians and vanquish the light. Jack felt so strong. There had to be no light.

However, a nagging thought kept presenting itself in his mind. Killing the host of the light, doesn't kill the belief. Belief resides deep in the soul. A soul that cannot be killed by a swing of a scythe. Jack ignored that thought though, and only focused on finding his beloved Boogeyman.

Jack found himself approaching Jamie's house, but saw no movement in the windows or even in the surrounding area. He landed roughly on the house, the roof groaning in protest from the heavy landing. Jack focused his vision on every shadow, trying to catch any unnatural movement. He tried to see a shape of a Nightmare, or the shape of Pitch Black himself, but... the shadows were quiet.

His mind flashed back to the betrayal that Pitch held as Jack retreated from the building. He shook himself out of the memory. Pitch wouldn't leave, Jack told himself. He had to be here.

But everything was so quiet. Jack wondered if Pitch did leave... leave him. He shook his head. Of course not. Pitch wouldn't leave him, even after a disagreement like that. Pitch will understand, he had to understand. The lair. Pitch had to be at his lair. Where else could he - ?

Jack's foot slipped from underneath him, causing him to roll off the roof and fall directly into a pile of snow. His staff followed and narrowly missed his head as it landed only a mere inch above him. Jack growled at his clumsiness. Not even "evil" can fix his two left fe-

Jack's thought abruptly stopped at the sight above him. A horizon of gold peaked its away above Jamie's roof, leaving Jack utterly confused. He looked back over the dimly light moon across the sky, then moved over to the golden horizon. It can't be the sun, Jack decided, picking himself up from the snow. He stood with his staff, and launched himself into the wind, floating up high it the sky.

Confirming his thoughts, the golden light wasn't the horizon from the sun, but were golden streams of sand that swam through the air. Jack narrowed his eyes suspiciously. The only being who could possess the golden light would be...

Jack's eyes widened. Oh no. The Sand-!

Jack was violently pulled down by his ankle, flinging him onto the ground. He barely managed to regain his hold on his staff before he was pulled back into the air and forcefully slammed against a house. Jack grunted in pain, shaking himself out of his dazed state from the landing. He slowly began standing, darting his eyes around to spot the source of the attacks.

A quick golden movement caught the corner of his eye, but before he could react, he was, once again, pulled out from under his feet and catapulted into the air. Jack called to the wind, feeling it wrap around him and pull way from the golden stream of hand that was ready to shoot back at him. Jack rose his staff, taking aim and preparing to shoot the golden sand.

A giant cloud of golden sand caught his eye from above, he cautiously took aim at the cloud instead, waiting for the moment where _he _would strike.

The Sandman.

Sandy shot from the cloud, a victory smirk forming itself on his face. Jack glared. _You haven't won yet! _Frost lightening struck up at the cloud, freezing the sand but barely missing the Sandman. The frozen sand sculpture shattered, falling from the sky in a puff of light. Sandy called in more sand, forming his signature whips.

Jack continued to glare at him, waiting for the attack. When it didn't come within the following few seconds, Jack made his move. Another flow of frost lightening erupted from the staff, darker than ever. Sandy easily dodged the lightening, lashing out his whips so it lassoed around Jack's wrist. Sandy yanked the whip back and Jack lost his grip on the staff. The lightening stopped and Jack barely maintained a firm enough grip to continue controlling the wind that was keeping him afloat.

Sandy yanked him down once again, having him crash brutally against the hard ground. This time, he held him down. Another whip lashed out, snatching onto Jack's other wrist. Soon, Jack found himself completely pinned to the ground. His staff lied innocently several feet away.

Jack roared at Sandy, pulling at the restraints and grunted at the pain from the pull.

"Why?!" Jack screamed. "You're dead! Gone!"

Symbols flashed above Sandy's head. Two only catching his attention. A snowflake, and the moon.

"The moon?" he growled.

Sandy nodded, pointed up to it.

"The moon brought you back because I..." Jack frowned, not understanding. "Wait. The light. My light! You have my light!"

Sandy nodded with a large smile.

Crafty, Jack frowned. He never expected the moon to go as far as reviving Sandy. He didn't even think it was possible.

"Great. So. Hey, sorry for killing you, but can you let me go?" Jack asked, tugging at the restraints.

Sandy's smile fell and he shook his head.

"Afraid I'll hurt you?" Jack taunted. "Scared of a little darkness?"

A shudder ran through Sandy, but he kept his strong composure nonetheless.

"Oh? Hit a nerve, did I?" Jack mocked, a smirk tugging itself on his lips.

Sandy frowned and the restrains on Jack tightened.

"Okay, _Sandy. _What do you want?" he asked with a large sigh

A silhouette of Jamie appeared over Sandy, followed by a "G".

"Jamie's with the Guardians?" Jack seethed. Sandy nodded.

Another symbol presented itself. Pitch. Jack couldn't help but light up at the mention of Pitch, but his face soon turned to horror as the picture of Pitch was consumed a sun. The sun was then replaced with the G again. Fireworks surrounded the letter. _Victory,_ Sandy mouthed.

"You're lying!" Jack screamed, tying to yank himself free. "Pitch will win! We will win! You can't..." he fell limp against the grass. "Liar," he hissed. "Liar, liar, liar!"

With a final attempt, Jack yanked himself up as hard as he could. The retrains broke and Jack was free. He scrambled over to his staff and blindly shot frost lightning at Sandy.

Without checking to see the damage, he bolted up into the air, and began his desperate search for his Nightmare King.

* * *

**Yeah, I didn't proof read that. **

**Why that took me 2 months to write, I don't know.**

**QUESTIONS. **

**This chapter is probably confusing as hell because... I have no clue what I'm doing. **

**Basically, what went down: **

**Jack was like, "oh man, I hate this good in me, you know? Gotta get rid of it. HEY MOON GUY. COMPROMISE TIME. You take my good, so I can become evil. With my good, you can take down the GUARDIANS BUT YOU GOTTA FACE ME, HAHAHAHA."**

**Jack sacrificed his good to the Moon to which he can do with, with however he pleases so Jack can be evil and be with Pitch because blackice. **

**and OH HELLO SANDY. Sandy came and conquered. He told Jack, "Jamie's with the Guards, Pitch was vanquished by the light and we won YAY!"**

**Jack ain't gonna believe that, no sir. **

**But what DID happened? Find out next time in... **

**CHAPTER 14!**


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